


We All Still Die

by Nixxie



Category: Grayson (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Developing Relationship, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-11 08:58:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5621071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixxie/pseuds/Nixxie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A job gone sideways leads to Jason's being poisoned and Dick realizing that he knows nothing about the man that Jason has become. Dick decides that he needs to rectify this, and that Jason has no choice in the matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So basically this fic is set 4 years into the future of the current continuity. I'll be mixing in some stuff from pre-new52 canon, but i will be using a lot of New 52 canon as well; with references to Red Hood and the Outlaws, Red Hood and Arsenal, Starfire, Nightwing, Grayson etc....
> 
> Jason Todd is my favorite character, and i just love him to bits. But i'm also kinda cruel to my faves, so I'm warning you right now. Prepare for the angst.
> 
> This fic will have consistently long chapters. So fair warning, it takes me a while to get them out. I'm a university student, majoring in zoology with a fuckton of really content heavy classes so studying takes up a lot of my time. Writing is a hobby. 
> 
> There will be a slow build, with a lot of my own headcanons thrust into the mix. Because this fic is placed 4 years into the future, i'll be diverging from the current canon a bit, by adding in my own events that probably won't happen.
> 
> I also haven't decided yet if there's going to be a happy ending. We shall see :p
> 
> (I'll add more tags later...)

The streets of Gotham are dirty, infested with every known type of lowlife imaginable; drug peddlers, rapists and kidnapers, dirty cops and the like. It’s ridden with poverty and disease, and its currency is the lost hopes and forgotten dreams of all those living in its wake. For those living in this city’s grimy clutches there is often no way out. Gotham is the place where street kids grow up without hope and die hardened and bitter. Maybe some are just victims of circumstance where their lives got turned upside down and torn apart, others are born into it. To survive you have to fight for it, no one is going to willingly hand over an opportunity, you have to go out and find it.

This was the world that Jason Todd grew up in. It was Gotham’s streets that taught him the nature of people; their selfishness, greed and cruelty. He hated this city and everything it stood for in a world that kissed the asses of those with money, and sucked the life out of everyone else. It was this city that would force kids to grow up too quickly and mold them into cynics as the streets stole their lives and society pitied them. Gotham is _dangerous_. Not because of the increasing number of crazies- it’s the ability it has to take _good_ people and twist them into things they were never meant to be.

As a kid, Jason’s life was going nowhere. His only interests were surviving the gray days and the long nights. But he never let this city sink its claws too deeply into him. For all the terrible things he witnessed, Jason never stopped trying to help people. He made sure the younger kids had food when they couldn’t get it themselves; he made sure they had someplace safe to sleep for the night, and he protected the young girls who were prey to men too old for them.

Jason stood now dressed in his Red Hood uniform at the very top of one of Gotham’s tallest skyscrapers. Night had fallen some several hours ago and by now Gotham’s night life had emerged from their dark holes. He took a deep breath just letting his gaze move over the streets and bright lights. The pollution made the air feel heavy, and in the back of his skull he could feel the beginnings of one of his now frequent headaches. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been occurring now, but he did know that they were getting worse. He just chalked it all up to stress.

There was never a part of Jason that saw Gotham as beautiful and he probably never would. It had been months since he’d been back, and really the only reason he was back now had to do with a job he was running. He lit a cigarette and pulled it to his lips to take a long drag.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

Dick Grayson, the first Robin, the prodigal son and the great Batman’s favorite child soldier. He was Nightwing too, right up until he went and got himself captured and then had his identity revealed to the word. He supposedly died, which was all actually a farce that the Bat concocted to strategically place Dick into a spy organization called Spyral. It was an entire year of thinking Dick was dead, until he showed up one night on a roof top here in Gotham trying to get Jason and Tim’s attention. Things have changed, it’s been four years since then, and now the Bat is back and doing his regular batty thing- darkness, and vengeance and all that “ _I am the night_ ” jazz. To the rest of the world however, Dick Grayson is still dead. But Jason knew the feeling; he’s been legally dead for eight years.

Jason let out a long sigh as he blew out the smoke in his lungs. Dick was always too optimistic, too happy and easy going, but also a complete asshole and an annoyingly appropriate ‘ _dick_ ’ when he felt like it too. They were two completely different types of people. Because apparently to most people Jason was 70% anger and 30% bullets, he often scoffed at this.

“The night in Gotham is really the only time this city shines, don’t you think?” Dick asked. He was standing just to Jason’s right with his hands on his hips as he gazed out over the cityscape.

“This city is a hell hole.” Jason breathed out a puff of smoke.

Dick laughed at this, not really taking what Jason said seriously. “Yeah, maybe. But it’s our hell hole, and its home.”

Jason didn’t think so, at least not for himself anyways. Yes, he was born here. Yes, he even grew up here for a time. But no, this place is not his home. Far away, maybe further than anything can be, perhaps in another realm or dimension, there is a place that felt more suited for Jason to call home- the Chamber of All, where the All Caste dwells, and where he was trained by their most revered leader Ducra. He hadn’t spent much time there, but it felt more like home than the dark streets of Gotham ever would.

“Not for all of us.”

Dick visibly stiffened beside him, and Jason could very much feel the heavy gaze Dick had turned on him. But he did his best to ignore it, after all it wasn’t like he was lying, Dick just had his head in the clouds like he always does.

“I don’t understand; this city is as much my home as it is yours.”

Jason turned to meet Dick’s gaze and flicked the remainder of the cigarette to the roof and stepped on it to put it out. Dick wore a pair of dark grey jeans and a blue hoodie, and had his hands stuffed into the front pocket. The damn thing looked too big for him, and Jason briefly wondered if it wasn’t his, and maybe instead a hand-me-down from the Man of Steel.

The headache pounding at the back of his skull was growing, and he also had to finish a job tonight. It wasn’t a big job, he just had to go and collect one of Gotham’s up and coming crime boss’s and drop him off at his employer’s doorstep. For such an easy job he was getting paid nicely to do it, and he didn’t want to miss his mark.

“I gotta go, but I’ll be in town for another few days before I head out. Tell Cass and Tim I said hi.” Jason said as he pulled on his helmet.

“Y’know you don’t have to leave right? You’ve hardly been in town for three days and nobodies seen you in _months_. You’ve been on your own for a while now too, haven’t you? What’s so important that keeps you away for so long?” Dick asked.

 _A lot of things_ , Jason wanted to say.

The Outlaws haven’t been a team in years; and the last he’d heard of Kori she was living quietly in Key West, a small coastal town where she was really just trying to fit in and stay happy. Jason missed her company; after all she’d saved his life enough times, and helped pull his head out of some pretty dark places, and Jason was never going to forget her. If Kori ever needed him, he’d be there without hesitation. But she was trying to make her way in the world and maybe she needed to do it without him right now. And that was okay.

On the other hand, he and Roy had teamed up for a couple years. Everything was going great, they’d even picked up a stray at one point – a young girl who’d called herself the Joker’s Daughter. It had taken a while, with admittedly many setbacks and sideways escapades before things started to settle down and look a little normal. But then something in Roy’s life changed and he had to make the decision to step up and take care of it. Roy bought a house in a quiet town up in British Columbia Canada. Jason stops by at least once a month.

As for the Joker’s Daughter, they eventually found out her real name was Deula Dent. At one point, after a night filled with their regular cup of chaos, she’d sat down and explained to her new teammates that she thought the best thing for her to do was get some therapy and treatment to help her overcome some of her demons. A couple days later, Jason went with her to check her into a mental hospital. For the past two years she’s been getting treatment and seriously making progress. Jason calls her every second Wednesday to talk for an hour, and visits every couple months when he can or between jobs. They’ve become good friends.

But however well it might seem for his closest friends, Jason still has his own demons, his own tragedies and problems that he has to deal with. He’s tried to stay away from places where there would be people that know him, namely Gotham. And the thing with Gotham is that running into a Bat is almost inevitable.

The truth of the matter was that Jason was noticing some changes in himself; for one, the headaches. They’d probably started up a couple months ago, but with how frequent they’d become he wasn’t sure if time was just blurring together. Another thing would be the resurfacing of years old PTSD that he’d thought he’d managed to deal with by now, and who could forget the icing to the mental ‘cake’ – depression, or more accurately called _persistent depressive disorder_.

That’s what a psychiatrist diagnosed him with nearly four years ago, when Roy made him go speak to someone after one too many nights of trying to talk him out of doing something stupid. And because of all these things they were contributing to his apparent weight loss, loss of appetite, lack of energy, and insomnia. But he supposed he’d had insomnia his entire life anyways, so that one was nothing new. But unfortunately the only way he knew how to deal with these things was on his own.

Jason stepped up onto the ledge of the building and began mentally prepared himself for the drop, and he pulled out his grapple gun. He didn’t really want to answer any of Dick’s questions, and he was about to jump, when he felt a hand enclose around his wrist. He looked back down to Dick, ready to tell him to let go or he’d pull him over the side of the building with him.

“Jay, what’s going on with you?” Dick sounded genuinely concerned.

“I’ve got a job to do, and I don’t want to miss my opening. Goodbye Dick.” Jason replied very pointedly.

Dick sighed and retracted his hand and let it fall to his side. “Fine.”

Jason jumped before Dick had a chance to say anything else. The thrill of free falling has been something he’s loved since his days as Robin. The absolute weightlessness and adrenaline pumping through his veins had very quickly become addicting. At the last possible moment he shot out his grapple and swung to the next building, to land and begin his run over roof tops.

Gotham has gotten so used to seeing its’ caped heroes running about. So much so that instead of running in fear – they do their best to snap pictures and catch a glimpse of their cities protectors. Every once in a while someone will manage to get a picture of Batman and Robin jumping over rooftops, or a Batgirl racing down the street on her motorcycle. But it’s rare for anyone to ever take a picture of the infamous Red Hood. Not for lack of trying on their part, it’s simply that although the Red Hood began all those years ago in this God-forsaken city, Gotham is just too small.

Jason had figured out a long time ago that very plainly put, a city is just too small for the Red Hood. To live in a city and allow crime to be a constant factor like Batman does would never happen if the Red Hood ever took over a city of his own. If the Red Hood had a city, it would be spotless. No crime, no drugs, no rape; because if there ever was, someone would die. Sure, the Red Hood had been keeping his hands clean for the past little while. But that didn’t mean that these scumbags were safe.

He was across the city before he even knew it, and now he was crouched on the rooftop of a warehouse across from the one he intended on breaking into. The target tonight is a man named Ashford Smore. And with a name like that he certainly does sound like a ‘Grade A- Asshole’. His item of trade in Gotham being drugs. Jason’s employer, a woman named Tara Battleworth who’s made herself a reputation in Washington as a problem ‘fixer’, wants this stopped before it becomes too big. And the Red Hood was the first person she contacted. They’ve worked together in the past, back when it was the Red Hood and Arsenal.

At the front entrance two not-too-conspicuous men are standing by the doorway. One even clearly has his hand on his hip where he has a pistol secured in a holster. The other is wearing dark sunglasses with his arms crossed over his wide chest. Both of them must think they’re working for some big time Boss because they’re wearing fitted suits. Jason snorts to himself. He then scans the rest of the area; noting that through the windows of the warehouse he can spot a couple men walking back and forth on patrol. But overall there can’t be more than 30 men in the entire building. After all, this is still a small operation.

Jason was still trying to decide if he wanted to go in quietly or not. It doesn’t look like this new Boss has really thought through the potential of someone actually trying to shut him down yet. No cars were parked around the building, and the windows on the outside were large enough for just about anyone to look through. Sure the hired meat were pretty decently outfitted with guns, but chances are they all have happy trigger fingers with the equivalent of a toddlers’ aim.

He decided that the cleaner he did this job the less he’d have to hear about it from Tara later. She’s learned not to give him any specifications on subtly, but even so, she likes to go off on how she has lots to cover for. Jason went through a quick mental checklist of all the gear he had on him, then checked his guns and made sure all his knives were secured in the right places.

Preparing himself for the inevitable battle to come, he pulled out his grappling hook in his right hand, and one of his pistols in his left. He fired up to the tall building beside the warehouse and used it to swing across and down onto his target’s roof. He landed quietly, and without disturbance. He then re-secured his grapple to his belt and pulled out his other gun. He walked to the rooftop door and pushed it in slowly. A set of stairs led down to an empty hallway. But Jason could hear voices nearby. So he crouched and glanced around the corner of the hallway leading to the right. Two men, both wearing black suits and carrying assault rifles were standing with their backs to his position.

 “So then I tell’em, ‘that whore sucks major dick, but with a toothpick like yours she might not even find it!’”

The two goons were nearly falling to pieces in their laughter. Silently, Jason crept up behind them and using as much strength as he had he bashed their heads together, hearing a satisfying crack as they crumbled to the floor. If there was one way to get onto the Red Hood’s bad side, it was by objectifying women. He’d shoot them, but he didn’t want to draw attention. So a severe concussion would have to do.

He continued in silence; clearing his corners and taking down any goons before they even saw him coming. It was actually too easy. He cleared the top two floors before he made it to the ground level, where he now couched in the metal rafters in the dark ceiling. In the center of the building a group of men had gathered to listen to orders. All of them packing some serious firearms; AK-47s, assault rifles, pistols and – wait!

In the center of the mass, clad in her green ninja garb stands Lady Shiva. _Shit_. And the target of this mission is standing right in front of her. This job just got a lot more complicated. It seriously went from 0 to 100 in 0.2 seconds. He’s fought Lady Shiva before, hell he’s even fought her daughter Cassandra too. He’s managed a standoff with Shiva, but he’s never come close to touching Cassandra. It’s probably why he likes Cass so much.

Way back when, when he was part of the League of Assassins he’d gone toe to toe with Shiva; she’d shown him a couple tricks of her trade, but it was still tough. But that was nearly 8 years ago. Jason’s gotten stronger, faster, more agile and more experienced over the years. But that’s assuming that Shiva herself hasn’t gotten any better either, she is one of the best – if not the best fighter in the world.

“ _Fuck_.” He breathes out.

The men with their big guns are like a treat compared to Shiva. He could take them out just fine, but with Shiva only a few feet away he’s liable to get stabbed in the back before he even manages to touch her.

“ _Pathetic._ ” Lady Shiva’s scathing voice carries up to Jason’s perch. “That is what your security is, and _that_ is what you are. But you meet my price, so I will work with you.”

 _Double fuck_.

The man she’s speaking to, Mr. Smore is perhaps only in his mid-thirties. And just like his goons, he’s dressed in a black suit. His dark brown hair is slicked back and his face is pulled into a cocky smirk.

“Glad to be doing business with you Lady Shiva. I expect you to begin immediately.” God even his voice made the man sound like an asshole, uptight high society British accent and all.

In the blink of an eye Mr. Smore has a blade pressed to his throat and Shiva hissing into his ear. Jason couldn’t hear what she said, but from the absolutely terrified look on Mr. Smore’s face, Jason knows she’s laying it on hard with this one. The guy’s a total tool, and Shiva just wants her money. This is easy money for her too after all.

“Boss, the men in the upper levels have all been taken out.” A man carrying a rifle says as he steps up beside Mr. Smore says.

“Shit! All of you, _handle this!_ ” Mr. Smore barks out.

In a flurry, the goons start running in varying directions; some heading for the stairs to go up to the upper layers, others flocking to Mr. Smore’s side and others heading outside. Now, on the floor there was only 4 men, Mr. Smore and Lady Shiva. This is the opening he was waiting for. _And who the hell likes a quiet job anyways?_

He took a deep breath, gripped his .45mm pistols and began his assault. He shot two men, both of them falling to the ground. The other two were quick to react, and began to shoot barrage of bullets up into the rafters. Jason jumped, and just like his prior guess, these goons have absolutely no aim. He landed heavy on one man’s shoulder’s making him crumble under Jason’s weight. Jason kicked the man in the head and used his momentum in the fight to charge forward, catching the fourth man in the throat and kicking his legs out from under him to throw him hard into the concrete floor.

As if on instinct he twisted, only narrowly escaping a flying blade. But instead basically walking into a second and third that embedded themselves one in his left shoulder and the other in his left thigh. He let out a grunt of annoyance and pain as he pulled them from himself and prepared himself for the fight to come.

“Oi, Shiva, what the hell are you doing with a tool like this? I thought ninja-ladies like you were out for bigger fish.” Jason taunted, keeping his guns trained on Lady Shiva prepared for anything she could throw at him.

“Red Hood.” She acknowledged, shifting her weight to a more powerful stance. “If I recall, the last time we met you seemed to think you could beat me in a fight. Let’s rectify your clouded judgement.”

“ _Let’s dance._ ”

____________________________

Shiva had managed to hit him with no less than two daggers, three ninja stars, and two of her favorite silver spikes that were a real bitch to dig out. Not only that but even with his armor and with some of those enchantments Ducra had put on him to enhance his bone strength, he still thought she’d managed to fracture his ulna and maybe crack a couple of his ribs.

At least he’d managed to fight back just as equally hard, managing to break her wrist and by giving her a possible concussion. He’d even managed to surprise her when he’d pulled one of the stars out of his arm and thrown it right back at her. Of course he’d only managed to clip the side of her thigh, but at least he’d hit her. By the end of the fight the very least he could say was that she certainly hadn’t gotten any worse, skill wise.

When he’d managed to land a physically powerful blow to her head she’d been visibly shaken. She’d lost her footing and very nearly fell before righting herself and choosing to retreat using one of those typical ninja smoke bombs and vanishing. Jason had been left bleeding, in pain and panting by the end of that fight. He supposed he’d actually managed a win, but figured it more to be a tie because she’d really managed to rough him up anyways.

Mr. Smore had run while he was fighting Shiva. And now the warehouse was strangely silent. He took a deep breath and tried to think of what to do next. He still had to get Smore and secure him for Tara, so he supposed that was still the best plan for action. But he could feel the way his fingertips were numbing and the fact his headache was returning with a vengeance. He pushed the pain aside and decided he’d finish the job.

He headed out of the warehouse and glanced around. There were some guards lying on the ground, and upon closer inspection Jason saw that they were both shot through the head. He steeled himself, and reloaded his .45s and prepared himself. He rounded the corner of the warehouse and his eyes widened at the sight of at least twenty dead men lying on the ground, all of them shot. Jason paused, and activated the motion sensors in his helmet; first he scanned the area, and found nothing. Then he turned his gaze up to the surrounding buildings, scanning slowly so he didn’t miss anything, and that’s when he saw it. He zeroed in on the movement, and his helmet automatically zoomed in. Up on the roof of a building probably about 500 yards away he watched Deathstroke beginning the disassembly of his sniper rifle. He ran for cover behind a wooden fence that would block Deathstroke from potentially seeing him.

Slowly, and silently he walked down the line of the fence and that’s when he found the car that Mr. Smore was probably going to use to escape, except he never made it because he too lied dead with a bullet in his head on the ground.

 _Damn, you’d think this guy was the president with who he’d managed to attract here tonight_. He thought to himself.

Tara had wanted this guy alive and in custody. A dead man wouldn’t get him his money, so there was no point in even collecting his body. Jason could feel the way his heart rate was spiking, for no reason, and the numbing in his fingers had expanded and now into his hands. He thought to himself that he really needed to get the hell out of here and rest, the adrenaline was pushing his already exhausted body past its limits. He holstered his guns and without another thought to the mess all around him, he made his move to leave the warehouse and to try and get the hell away before Bruce came looking for answers.

He made it a couple blocks, running over rooftops headed to his nearest safe house when he began to feel like the way his heart hadn’t stopped beating so rapidly was a little odd. Jason paused in his run on the roof of an old rundown apartment building in one of Gotham’s less savory neighborhoods. He was by no means out of shape, and a simple run shouldn’t be making it feel like he was in fact running for his life or in a boxing match with Bane himself. His head was now pounding, and it was making it increasingly hard to focus. The numbing of his hands was now slowly making its way up his arms. And then it occurred to him – he’d been poisoned.

 _Damn it!_ He grit his teeth in the realization that Shiva must’ve poisoned her weapons and when they’d broken his skin that’s how they’d gotten into him. This is bad, because there was a number of poison’s Jason knew she used, and the trouble was that not all of them had antidotes or functioned on the same timeframe of how long it would take to kill him.

When he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder from behind he very nearly reacted on impulse, intending to punch this unknown threat before anything could happen. But when he turned around to find the much shorter stature of the third Batgirl, or _Black Bat_ as she liked to be called now, standing behind him he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Man did he ever love this girl, Cassandra was by far one of Jason’s most favorite people.

“Hey Cassie, I’d love to stay for a chat but I’ve gotta get out of here.” He said, motioning with his hand in the direction he was running to get to his safe house.

“Something wrong?” she asked, reaching out again to touch his hand.

Yeah, something was definitely wrong. The numbing in his hands was getting worse and it felt like his vision was slowly getting blurrier. His heart wouldn’t stop beating rapidly, his headache was verging into the realm of what it must feel like to repeatedly bash ones head against concrete and all these symptoms he was taking count of weren’t significant enough to tell him _what_ exactly he’d been poisoned with, when Shiva had several that did similar things. Man, he knew he was fucked if he didn’t get to his safe house fast.

“Long story, but I gotta go.” He said and stepped away, and readied himself to jump to the next building. “I’ll call you in a couple days.”

Cass knew something was wrong, but she nodded her understanding. Jason appreciated her ability to just listen and understand him more than just about anybody – well, maybe aside from Roy. But Roy just has this uncanny ability to know exactly what he’s thinking before he even realized he was thinking it. This is probably why between Cass and Roy he can never get away with anything.

Jason jumped to the next roof and built up his speed to jump the gap to the next one, and just when he was about to stick the landing his right foot was pulled right out from under him.

“ _Fucking hell_ , what now?” he ground out when he tumbled to the gravel on the roof, careful to protect his cracked ribs.

The Bat, with all his imposing darkness and threat loomed over him. The white lenses of Bruce’s cowl made it impossible to gauge just how pissed off he was, especially because he always looked so rigid and tense whenever he was around Jason. When Jason looked to his right foot he found one of Bruce’s cables wrapped around his ankle, so he pulled out his knife and cut the line to free himself.

“Okay, what the _actual_ fuck.” He said as he hefted himself up, only grimacing a little at the pain his ribs caused him. “I got places to be Old Man.”

Bruce apparently wasn’t in the mood to take any of Jason’s usual wisecracking because one second he was only just managing to stand and keep his eyesight focused on Bruce and the next his back was being slammed against the brick wall where the door to the apartment building would lead to the roof. Jason’s breath was sucked out of his lungs, leaving him gagging and desperate for air.

“No killing. _That_ was the only rule for when you’re in Gotham.” Growled the Bat.

“I didn’t kill anyone.” He managed to get out between coughs.

Bruce wasn’t playing around, clearly, because his hand went to Jason’s throat and even through his armor he could feel the pressure of Bruce’s fingers. On reflex his own hands went to grab Bruce’s wrist in an attempt to get him to let go. But Jason found he had no strength in his numb hands and arms.

“I don’t have time for this. If you wanna do this tomorrow, _great,_ but right now I _need_ to go!” Jason all but yelled.

But Bruce wasn’t listening, and Jason could feel his firm grip staying strong. His own hands were useless and knowledge that he was effectively powerless in this situation was only heightened by the fact it was becoming increasingly difficult to see anything more than a blob of black looming over him. He was running out of time!

“Batman!” yelled Cassandra, somewhere from behind Bruce. Jason couldn’t see very much at this point. “Let him go.”

Bruce’s fingers clenched again before Jason was abruptly thrown; the blending of the colors because of his blurred vision, and his now jack-hammering headache were both causing him to lose his balance. He tripped and fell, heavily hitting the gravel of the roof, and immediately he felt the wave of fiery pain spread over his chest as one, or several, of his cracked ribs broke and punctured a lung. He was already short on breath as it was and now he was trying to suck in air as he coughed violently spitting up blood that had nowhere to go except collect in his helmet.

Voices were all around him, some louder than others, and if he had to guess there was maybe three voices now. He couldn’t hear anything of what they were saying, all he could do was think of the very likely chance he was going to die tonight on a roof in crime alley.

Someone had found the button on the side of his helmet and gently removed it. Amongst all the pain he tried to focus on the gentle way this persons’ hands held his head and pressed to the underside of his jaw to take his pulse. Briefly he thought that it must be Cassandra. He tried his best to stop the coughs still shaking his entire body so that he could speak, not even knowing if his voice would be loud enough.

“Poisoned.” He coughed blood up again. “Shiva.”

The pain, all of it coursing through his body was becoming too much. His headache was only increasing, and he couldn’t feel nor move his arms, his chest burned and shapes didn’t exist anymore. His vision slowly darkened and still hearing the voices and feeling the gentle cradle of the hands under his head he succumbed to the darkness calling him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so i am by no means someone who understands human biology, or anything medically human related. So some of the stuff here i had to research and try to make sense of to the best of my ability, but in all truth it's still a stretch from what it should actually be like. In the next chapter i'll be stretching it even further lol. if anyone has any pointers i'd love to hear them!
> 
> But yeah, updates. i've been trying this thing where i write a bit everyday. it's been working out so far, but now i've got midterms coming up that'll take 2-3 weeks to get through. so, the next update will probably take a while to get out again. Sorry for the wait, but i genuinely want to finish a story for once in my life, so the update will come eventually!
> 
> also, i have a hell of a time writing Dick. It's just really difficult for me, whereas writing Jason just comes so naturally. I think part of the reason why is because i'm still just having a little difficulty understanding Dick's personality. Most of the time when i read fics with him he's a leader, very friendly, self-sacrificing and occasionally kind of an asshole. so i'm trying to stick to these as best i can, but in this story a lot has happened between my AU/whatever you want to call this, and the current time line in the comics (where no one even understands what the hell is happening lol). there will be lots of character development.
> 
> Moving on, i hope you enjoy the new chapter!

“ _Batman, let him go!_ ”

Dick was only buildings away when he heard Black Bat scream. At the urgency in her voice, Dick ran his hardest to the source. On a distant roof top, maybe only six away now, he could see the broad figure of the Batman pinning Red Hood against a brick wall. The first thought that went through Dick’s mind was that Jason was just being Jason again – just poking the proverbial bat with a stick as usual. But even from the distance Dick was still away from the roof he could see the rigidity to Bruce’s body, and Dick knew Bruce was _pissed_.

As he neared he could see more; Bruce had his hand around Jason’s neck, and although Jason had his hands gripping Bruce’s wrists he wasn’t doing anything. If there was one thing he knew about Jason, it was that he didn’t let anything happen unless he wanted it to happen. So he should really be able to get out of Bruce’s grasp as easily as he’d gotten into it.

The shock of watching Jason being flung, as though he wasn’t 6’2’’ and 225lbs of pure muscle was alarm enough. But even more so, that when he hit the ground he didn’t move any more than to curl in on himself as though in great pain.

When Dick finally reached the rooftop, Cassandra had run to Jason’s side and removed his helmet. The wet coughing sounds between ragged breaths was the only thing he could hear, all of which came from Jason. Dick’s blood froze in his veins, but his mind went into overdrive in an attempt to assess the situation.

He’d only _just_ seen Jason, not much more than two hours ago. Something during Jason’s ‘job’ must’ve gone wrong and he’d ended up getting himself hurt, but that didn’t explain why Bruce was royally pissed. Still in the shadows of the brick wall Bruce stood rigid, but he seemed shocked at his own actions, as if he hadn’t even realized that he’d added to the injuries of his wayward Robin.

“What the hell is going on here?” he asked, mostly directed to Bruce. But he kept an eye on Jason and Cassandra. She was trying to assess Jason’s injuries.

Bruce stayed silent.

“Pulse is spiking.” Cassandra’s voice carried over whatever tension had very quickly formed between him and Bruce.

“Shit.” Dick said, and activated his comm.

“ _Poisoned….._ ” Jason hardly managed a whisper. If he said anymore Dick couldn’t hear it.

_Double shit._ This meant they had very little time to try to figure out what exactly Jason had been poisoned with. Not to mention take care of a no doubt punctured lung.

“Tim!” Dick barked into the comm.

“ _Jesus, what_?” Tim answered, surprised to hear the urgency of Dick’s voice.

“I need the plane sent out to the coordinates I’m currently at. _Now_. And have Alfred prep the medbay – Hood’s been poisoned, and -.”

“Broken ribs, punctured lung, many open wounds.” Cassandra’s voice carried over the comm.

“Okay, the plane is enroute now. Under two minutes till it reaches your location.” Tim breathed out heavily. “Is he conscious? Any idea who the attacker was?”

“He’s unconscious, and not in the best shape. Get in contact with Lucius, when we get Jason back to the cave take a blood sample right away and send it to him. We don’t know what Jason was poisoned with.”

Dick glanced down at Jason’s prone form and he felt his voice catch in his throat. Jason was bleeding heavily from a wound in his shoulder, at closer inspection it looked to be a stab wound and probably a deep one too. His left leg was bleeding from a similar wound and on the right side of his abs the plates of his armor looked cracked and broken, a single silver spike was still embedded in his abdominals. Dick knew exactly the person who used spikes like that. _Shiva_.

Shiva was in Gotham and during whatever job Jason was pulling, she’d obviously been involved. But none of this answered the question on what the hell Bruce was so pissed about. Jason surely hadn’t killed her. Dick knew Jason was good, but no one could just walk away from Shiva.

The Batplane was overhead now, he and Cass worked together to get Jason loaded in and it was decided that Cassandra would ride back to the cave in the plane. Leaving Dick alone on the now quiet roof top with Bruce, who hadn’t budged from his position in the shadows. Dick watched the plane fly until it was out of sight, then he turned his attention back to Bruce.

“So what just happened?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I mean, I know it’s Jason, but seriously it’s just Jason.”

Bruce was receding back into himself, clearly knowing he’d made a mistake. The tension to Bruce’s shoulders hadn’t left him, but now he also grit his teeth and flexed the muscles in his jaw. Whatever had happened, Bruce very clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“It is _because_ it is Jason that I’d just- ….” Bruce cut himself off and restarted. “At a warehouse not far from here there was a mass shoot out. It was the beginning operations of an up and coming crime boss, Ashford Smore. The GCPD has been keeping their eye on his actions for some time now. Smore hasn’t been doing a good job of covering his steps, but he has money which automatically makes him a player in Gotham. Last month one of Smore’s shipments was hit by Black Mask’s crew, so even the regular underground mob bosses are trying to get him out of Gotham.”

“I ran into Jason just before he went off to do a job.” Dick added. “Was someone killed at the warehouse? Is this why you went to find Jason? You know he’s been keeping clean.”

“Not only was Smore shot and killed, so was his entire crew at the warehouse. I arrived probably not too long after everything happened. This type of mob shooting fits Red Hood’s M.O. he’s done this before.”

Dick fell silent. He knew what Bruce was trying to explain. It’s because Jason’s unpredictable that he just assumed that Jason was responsible for the carnage. A heavy weight settled on Dick’s chest. Knowing Bruce, he probably hadn’t given Jason the chance to explain himself. And even if he had, Jason would’ve just spit in his face. None of this sat well with Dick, but Bruce’s actions were pissing Dick off now. Bruce knew enough, and prided himself on being observant; he should have seen the condition Jason was in.

Dick grit his teeth when Jason’s words from earlier came to mind _‘Not for all of us’_ , Jason didn’t think of Gotham as his home. He would spend months away, and if he did come back it was because Tim or Cassandra asked him to. But even then, if he had to go near the manor he kept to himself, spoke very little, did his job and without a word he would leave. The few times that Dick had been present when Bruce was speaking to Jason, things never went well. It was a constant interrogation without rest. At the time Dick found himself mostly understanding Bruce’s concerns. But now- now he thought he could understand why Jason never came back. What could it possibly feel like to be around people that don’t trust you, that watch and scrutinize everything you do, and constantly doubt your intentions?

The weight on Dick’s chest just felt heavier when the realization struck him. All these years, with everything that’s happened, and still it would result to this. Jason knew he’d been poisoned, and being this far into Crime Alley he was probably trying to get to a safe house. But fuck, no one even knew where Jason’s safe houses were. Jason would rather risk his life getting to a safe house, than radio the cave for help. Jason could die tonight, and he still thought himself better off without the help of the Family.

“Go back to the warehouse. Investigate.” Dick said noticing the hard tone his voice took. “I’m going back to the cave.”

He didn’t wait for Bruce to say anything, instead he took off on a run across the roof tops and back to a motorcycle he’d stashed in an alley way just outside of crime alley. He used the kickstart and shot down the streets without caring to consider the speed limit. The tightness in his chest still hasn’t left him. The night had barely even started, and yet it had just become so much longer.

Reaching up, he pressed the button on the side of his motorcycle helmet activating the helmet’s comms system.

“Oracle.” He spoke.

“Yes” Barbara answered back. “What do you need? By the way we should really work on a new name for you, because I can’t be calling you Dick in the field and I’m sure you’re tired of being called Agent 37.”

Dick smirked despite himself. “I need you to keep an eye out for Lady Shiva, any information on her location, sightings, anything. Also, notify Robin, Spoiler and Bluebird to keep an eye out for her. B will probably have more information shortly.”

“It sounds like something’s happened that I haven’t heard about yet. Which doesn’t happen often. Actually I mean never.” Barbara answered, and Dick could hear the tapping of computer keys in the background.

“Red Hood’s back in town. He was running a job, we don’t know what exactly it was yet, but Shiva was involved. He’s been poisoned, and definitely has a punctured lung among other injuries.” Dick noticed how his voice sounded kind of tight.

“Dammit Jason…” Barbara breathed out, and a couple moments of silence passed between them. “There’s something else. Isn’t there?”

It was now that Dick has to admit to himself, again, that Babs knew him better than he knew himself. He took a moment to compose himself, and let his mind settle.

“It’s just something Jason said earlier tonight…” he trailed off. “Babs, how much do you know of Jason’s life?”

“Enough to say that he knows how to disappear. I’ve tried to keep tabs on him… ever since, y’know. But I’m not kidding when I say he’s a ghost. He’s completely hidden himself from my ability to track him down. Sometimes I’ll get a ping, but as soon as I look further into it the trail goes cold very quickly. In a technological sense, Jason Todd does not exist.” Barbara sounded equally annoyed that Jason had managed to evade even her, and concerned. “It’s not like I can blame him though. After what happened.”

It was nearly two years ago now when things went from DEFCON 5 to 1 in a matter of hours. It had been absolute chaos. Spyral had grown in strength and gathered enough information, weapons and personnel to strike. And what had made it all worse was that Dick couldn’t do anything to stop it. The whole point of him entering the organization was to stop their imminent attack, and he’d failed.

The results of the attack on the superhero community had been catastrophic. Within the Family alone the effects are still being felt today. It was because of this attack that Barbara lost her legs again, and the reason why Tim had fallen into a three month long coma and it was also then that Jason’s connection to the Family was almost severed indefinitely. Dick didn’t even know the full story, mostly because Bruce wouldn’t talk about it with anyone, but he knew that it involved the Joker, Jason and Bruce. The results however had been a very immobile Joker sent back to Arkham, an especially broody Bat and an absent Jason for nearly eight months.

Dick let out a long breath, and tried to keep himself from letting his mind wander. It’s just so much has happened, and it just doesn’t stop.

“Are you okay Dick?” Babs asked after a couple moments of silence.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Keep an eye out for Shiva, or anything suspicious. Call me if you find anything.” He answered.

“Sure thing. And if you guys need any help with Jason, let me know.”

“’Course Babs. I’ll keep you posted.”

He reached up and pressed the button on the side of his helmet to disconnect the call. He was still a few minutes out from making it to the cave, so he tried his best to prepare himself for the night and no doubt the next few days to come. But he found himself feeling anxious, and scared. Of course it made sense to feel this way, his brother could die tonight.

_His brother._

The tightness and weight Dick felt in his chest was immense and he wondered to himself why people only ever thought about how important people are when they could lose them. He bit him lip, and leaned into the bike to accelerate faster.

_______________

When Bruce returned to the warehouse the GCPD has arrived and taped off the surroundings. The various officers and detectives didn’t pay him much heed as he stalked around the crime scene observing and noting evidence when it became apparent. Jim was speaking to another officer but stepped away to join him as he turned around the corner of the warehouse where the carnage continued with a trail of dead bodies.

“The entire gang was taken out. Any idea who actually did this? I mean, this guy, Smore, wasn’t exactly welcome and everyone knew it.” Jim asked his hands on his hips as he followed behind the Bat.

Batman’s eyes raked over the scene; at least fifteen men were dead before him, all shot. And on the other side of the building there was another ten with Smore and his closer body guards. He stalked over to the nearest body; the man had been blown forward towards the warehouse behind him by the shot that had entered through the back of his head. He moved on to the next body. Another blown backwards towards the warehouse by the force of the bullet. So the shooter would have had to have been outside and shooting towards the warehouse that Smore’s men were in.

“This couldn’t have been a one man job, but people in the area haven’t reported any fights or strange vehicles in the area. So this couldn’t be mob related.” Jim continued.

Batman kneeled beside one of the bodies, and pulled a pair of tweezers out from his utility belt. Carefully, he extracted the bullet from the body’s head and activated the scanners in his cowl. It took a few moments, but the results told him that the bullet used was a .223 Remington. This bullet was made to be used in M16 rifles, which are military grade sniper rifles most commonly used in semi-automatic AR-15’s. He bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to set aside the knowledge that Jason is in fact a skilled sniper and tried to consider the possibility that someone else had made the shot. He needed more evidence.

“The bullets used are military grade, most likely from an AR-15 rifle.” He said as he stood back up, bagging the evidence and storing it in his belt.

“Black Mask is the only one in Gotham with that type of firepower…” Jim frowned. “Unless the shooter isn’t from Gotham, then who else could it be?”

Several names came to mind: Floyd Lawton – Deadshot, Slade Wilson – Deathstroke, Rose Wilson - Ravager, and Jason Todd the Red Hood. All are strong possibilities, all are skilled marksman and unbound to a single city. He had to consider them all.

He turned away from the bodies and instead faced the warehouse and walked towards the doorway leading inside. The base of the warehouse is a large open space that has a dark ceiling with metal supports that allowed hanging lights to shine a limited amount of light onto the concrete below. Closer to the center he could see the evidence a fight; bullets and knives littered the ground. He bent down the retrieve an empty magazine, knowing that it would have fit with Jason’s .45 ACP handguns. Next he picked up one of the daggers lying on the ground with blood smeared over the blade. He placed both the magazine and the dagger into a compartment of his utility belt. About ten meters away another dagger of similar design was also lying on the ground with blood splattered over its blade; he collected it too to add to his evidence.

Drops of blood were also visible over the floor, however not exactly concentrated in one area. The fight that was fought must’ve been an active one. He activated the sensors in his cowl and scanned the scene. The sensors locked onto a tiny spherical device, when he picked it up he recognized it to be a smoke bomb. He moved on, and the sensors found a series of three metallic spikes embedded deeply into the brick of the warehouse wall. When he got closer to inspect them he recognized the sleek silver and unrefined quality they had to be one of Lady Shiva’s most favorite weapons because once they went into the body they would be harder to get out. Using the appropriate tool he removed all three and stored them in his belt too.

A quick summary in his mind told him that aside from Smore’s gang, Lady Shiva, Red Hood and an unknown were all present during the shootings of the gang and Mr. Smore himself. He would even hazard that Lady Shiva and Red Hood would’ve been fighting inside the warehouse while the unknown had taken out the gang on the outside. He would even go as far as to speculate that there was something bigger at work here than the overlaying simplicity of a new crime boss trying to make it big in Gotham. He would also need to investigate more on Ashfore Smore. He had originally let the GCPD fend for themselves regarding Ashford Smore’s gang, as there had only just recently been Justice League business he’d had to attend to and hadn’t considered the possibility of something more regarding Smore.

He would need to find out what exactly Red Hood’s job had been here tonight, and ask Oracle if there’s been any sightings of Shiva.

Jim was waiting by the doorway, and Batman walked back to meet him.

“The magazine and bullets used inside here are not associated with the shootings outside. I’ll do a sweep of the surrounding buildings with a direct visual of the outside wall of the warehouse. It appears there was more to Mr. Smore than what we initially expected.” He spoke, and walked back outside with Jim.

Jim nodded, considering what he’d said. “We’ll clean up down here and put some more eyes out on the streets to keep a look out.”

Batman nodded and returned to the batmobile. He took off down the streets and made it to the first building. He didn’t find anything. He tried another, and that too didn’t offer any evidence. But when he was scanning the upper levels of the third he encountered an unfinished portion still under construction. There were scrapes on the ground as though a heavy case had been pulled over it. He activated the sensors of the cowl, and scanned the area for any anomalies. It took a few moments, but then they picked a small item that had lodged itself under one of the wooden beams piled just to the side. When he picked it up, it turned out to be a bullet shell, he checked the back marking to read .223 Remington. The sniper must’ve missed this one shell.

Stepping away he neared the open window and gazed down to the warehouse, noting the optimal shooting position the sniper had chosen. The distance he estimated to be about 500 yards away, meaning that it would be a relatively easy shot for any skilled sniper. He turned away and pressed the button on the side of his cowl to activate his com as he made his way down and out of the building.

“Oracle.”

“Before you ask, yes, I’ve been keeping an eye out in Gotham for Shiva and anything suspicious. Nothing yet. Dick told me about what happened with Jason. He’s -.”

“Has there been any uptake in gang activity? Any shipments coming in or more frequent sightings of members?” he asked, cutting her off.

He needed to focus on the job, then he could think of what was happening back at the cave. But he could hear the exasperated breath that left Barbara on the other end of the coms as she tapped away on her computer.

“What appears to be an arms shipment came in for Black Mask, pier 3 warehouse 5. There isn’t much going on just yet; Batgirl and Robin are already there ready to take care of the job.” She answered.

“Find out anything you can on the recent operations of Deadshot, Deathstroke, and Ravager. There seems to be a third party involved in the Smore’s gang shooting. Get back to me once you’ve found anything.” He said crisply.

“Sure thing, and Bruce, you should know Jason’s -.”

He turned off the com before she could finish. He needed to stay focused.

___________________

Dick’s motorcycle came skidding to a halt when he entered the cave. He swung his leg over the back and removed his bike helmet to place it onto the back of the motorcycle. He let himself get his bearings for a moment before making his way over to the bat computer. Tim had a number of windows open running diagnostics and tests. He was so focused on his work that he barely noticed Dick’s presence. It’s only been about fifteen minutes since Jason had been brought into the cave and already Tim was working on a way to isolate and find the poison in Jason’s blood.

“Alfred and Cassandra have managed to stabilize Jason for now. And Dr. Thompkins will be here within the next few minutes. Lucius and I have both been working to find the exact poison used, but it’s proving difficult. My theory now is that it’s more than one poison, possibly two or three. Without Jason being conscious we don’t know the symptoms so this is difficult.” Tim spoke before Dick could ask.

“Is there anything I can do?” Dick asked.

“At the moment no. Once Dr. Thompkins gets here, she and Alfred will have their work cut out for them, we’ve got a small time frame of being able to save him. This is going to be close.” Tim continued to type and flick between screens of compounds and chemicals, which he artificially tested with the program he’d made.

“Do you have any idea what Jason’s actual job was? Who he was working for? Anything that could connect him to the death of Ashford Smore.” Dick asked.

“I know his employers’ name is Tara, and only that she’s connected to the government. Jason’s dealt with her a number of times in the past. His missions never include killing people. Besides, Jason hasn’t killed anyone for a long time, so I don’t see why he would suddenly change now for a small time gang in Gotham.” Tim explained.

They both fell silent for several minutes. Tim continued to work; artificially degrading compounds and working out an analysis of the anomalies he’d detected. Leslie came running down the flights of stairs of the batcave and past Dick at Tim at the computer to go straight to the medbay. Dick watched her go, and moments later Cassandra left the small room and sat on the ground just outside. Dick couldn’t hear what Leslie was saying exactly, mostly because it was filled with medical jargon, but he trusted her and Alfred to get Jason through this.

Cassandra had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. She looked concerned, anxious and scared. Her small shoulders were held stiffly as she bit her lip out of nervousness. And her eyes were focused on the floor in front of her. Dick left his post beside Tim and walked over to Cassandra to sit beside her, touching only by their arms. Neither of them said anything for a long time, instead opting to just listen to the sounds of Leslie and Alfred working and talking about their options. They had Jason’s lung fixed, bound his ribs and dressed his open wounds probably within record time.

“Dr. Thompkins!” Tim yelled from the computers. “I think you need to see this.”

Leslie came out the door to the medbay a few seconds later and made her way to the computers. She paused a moment as she took in all the information before her. Her brow furrowed slightly, then she looked to Tim for an explanation. Dick walked over to listen in.

“It’s not just one poison. It’s actually three; but synthetically they’ve all been combined to make a type of hybrid. I’ve been able to analyze the compounds in Jason’s blood, and with the help of Lucius we’ve found two of the three. The base is hemlock, and the other is belladonna.” Tim explained.

“Jason’s heart rate was originally very rapid, but now it’s begun to slow down. With these two poisons they’d be working against each other. Where hemlock would act as a muscle relaxant, belladonna would be working to increase his heart rate. Theoretically, this would exhaust his body faster. Jason could be conscious for all we know; hemlock would inhibit all of his motor functions and leave him paralyzed within his own body.” Leslie voiced. “If this is a hybrid type poison, is it possible that we could use the known antidotes for hemlock and belladonna to at least neutralize those poisons?”

“Possibly, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you for sure. The third poison is still a mystery, and it’s becoming increasingly crucial that I figure this out. In the meantime, why not try the individual antidotes? Perhaps it’ll give us some more time.” Tim suggested, but then looked to Dick.

Dick nodded in agreement. “It’s the best option. But as the only medical practitioner here, Dr. Thompkins, it’s your call.”

Leslie let her eyes roam over the statistics and tests being run for a couple moments as she came to her decision. “We’ll give him the separate antidotes. In the meantime, the tests here are all focused on poisonous plants and their extracts. Also scan for any bacterial anomalies. Bacteria can be just as deadly as any poison.”

Tim was already prepping new tests and opening programs as he spoke. “Good thinking- can’t believe I didn’t consider that. The cave has many antidotes, Dick you know where they are. Both of these poisons are common enough that hopefully Bruce has them in stock.”

“I’ll prep Jason, Dick bring me the antidotes.” Dr. Thompkins said, and turned away to return to the medbay.

Dick retrieved the antidotes from the storage unit Alfred kept with all his medical supplies and returned to the medbay. When he walked inside he handed the vials to Dr. Thompkins. When Dick looked down at Jason’s still form laying presumably unconscious on the medical cot Dick felt his chest constrict with raw emotion. Jason had been undressed from his Red Hood attire and laid onto the cot with the thin white sheet to cover him; his face looked flushed, but his skin had paled, and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. The heart monitor to the side of the cot still showed a rapid heartbeat. But what made Dick freeze at the foot of the cot was the fact that Jason didn’t look tense, or like he was struggling. Jason looked like he could simply be sleeping, the expression on his face looked utterly peaceful, making him look younger as the hard expression Jason so often wore had been wiped from his beautifully defined features.

Memories that hadn’t resurfaced in years sprung into Dick’s mind; a young and eager Jason begging to get out onto the streets as Robin, a round face with freckles and bright green eyes staring up at Dick with such wonder as Dick spoke of the Titans, a small Jason curled up on Bruce’s recliner wrapped in a big blanket sleeping with an open book beside him. Tears were threatening to escape his eyes, and he forced himself to leave the small medbay room.

He didn’t stop to check in with Tim and see if he’d made any progress. Instead he climbed the stairs leading back into the manor and walked outside into the dark and silent garden’s surrounding the estate. He sat down on one of the marble benches, let his face fall into his hands, and reminded himself to breathe.

_Just breathe_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i'm going to say right now that Roy will be in the next chapter, and i can't wait to write him. His relationship with Jason is going to be really important. 
> 
> I wanted to make a point with this chapter that whatever happened between Jason, Bruce and the Joker has changed not only Jason, but it's changed Bruce too. In the current comics, writers are working pretty hard to get Jason closer and closer to the rest of the Batfam again. which i really love, but i'd like to explore the idea that there really is a line that can be crossed between Bruce and Jason that cannot be fixed. We'll see more.
> 
> I've also planned that both Kori and Joker's Daughter will show up eventually, same with characters from Grayson like Helena, Agent 1 and Midnighter.
> 
> I'm really excited about this story.
> 
> Anyways, tell me what you thought?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i have no idea where this came from. I wasn't expecting to post for at least 2 weeks. But this just sort of... happened? I dunno man, but i haven't been able to stop thinking about my plans for this story and long story short here's Chapter 3. 
> 
> But i really do have midterms to study for, so really, this time i won't be getting a chapter out for at least another 2 weeks. 
> 
> Enjoy!

In three days’ time Jason’s heart had stopped twice; the first time had been a surprise because the antidotes seemed to be doing their job in neutralizing the hemlock and belladonna, but really they’d been used and burnt off allowing hemlock’s paralysis capabilities to kick in and stop his heart. Dr. Thompkins and Alfred had had their work cut out for them.

It was Tim’s idea to use a higher dosage of antidote, which worked to help stabilize Jason again, but would be required to continue to give to him the antidote at increasing dosages. They were quickly running out of stores of the antidote, so Lucius had had to make some discrete purchases and get it shipped to Gotham quickly.

Dick kept in contact with Barbara, as she had become the central station where all information of what was happening in Gotham went through before anyone else. It was only through Barbara that he learned that Bruce had originally had three suspects which he’s now focused in on one in particular, Deathstroke. The trouble was that Deathstroke was in Gotham, but now he’d left and headed overseas to Europe. Bruce hadn’t told anyone he was leaving to go after Deathstroke, he hadn’t asked for back up, and he hadn’t spared more than a glance towards the medbay when he was in the cave. It pissed Dick off just thinking about it.

Tim was having trouble with the final component of Shiva’s hybrid poison. He could tell it was of bacterial origins but the strain had been mutated. He was trying to isolate the base bacteria, but the mutation was proving unpredictable, as it would change the longer it remained alive. Tim hasn’t slept at all.

Cassandra hadn’t left Jason’s side once Dr. Thompkins had said he was stable enough she could see him. She’d pulled up a chair beside the cot and held his hand. When she would sleep, Cassandra would wrap her small fingers around Jason’s wrist to monitor his pulse as though she couldn’t trust the machines around her.

Damian had stopped by a couple times to poke his head into the medbay, check in with Tim and then take his orders from Barbara before he headed back out into the city. Stephanie would bring Cassandra something to eat twice a day and head out every night with Damian. They were trying to gather whatever information they could on the other gang’s in Gotham’s interests in Mr. Smore. Harper was out in the city trying to track down any leads on Lady Shiva. But the trail was going cold, which was proving frustrating.

Dick had been left to his never ending thoughts. His mind wouldn’t let him rest and as a result he’d been awake for three days now too. He was stressed, feeling strangely guilty and more than a little pissed at Bruce.

While Tim continued his work at the computers, Dick observed and paced back and forth. He listened through the coms for what was happening in the field, and kept glancing in the direction of the medbay. He felt a little afraid to look inside again. In the past three days he’d gone through every memory he had of Jason only to realize that there was hardly more than a handful.

He remembered the first time he’d heard that there was a new Robin. _Oh_ he had been pissed. He’d very maturely driven back to Gotham and stomped his way into the manor with the full intent of just railing on Bruce, but when he’d been confronted by a barely four foot tall kid with dark curly hair, bright green eyes, and a downright foul mouth- he’d found himself enamoured with the scrappy brat. Jason had been so full of energy, and so determined to prove himself. He’d very plainly said that he was going to be a better Robin than Dick had ever been. It had made Dick smile, and he’d encouraged it. He’d found himself thinking that he’d always wanted a younger brother.

There was also Thanksgiving dinner, right around the time when Jason had developed a rather cute crush on Barbara but had been so nervous that he could barely say anything and instead blushed the entire dinner. Barbara never said anything about it, instead acting as though she didn’t notice, because eventually Jason’s crush must’ve disappeared and he’d started to focus more on training and school work than anything else. Dick wondered if Jason’s blushes still reached his ears.

Dick also remembered this one camping trip that Alfred had pulled both himself and Jason out on as an attempt to get Jason out of Gotham for a week. Jason had complained and complained, saying that he couldn’t leave Bruce to face Gotham on his own. But as soon as they’d reached their destination, a quiet log cabin in the middle of a forest with lots of rivers and a lake within reasonable distance and a mountain range to their west, Jason had fallen in love with it all. Dick had taken him out and taught him how to fish, and they’d gone swimming every day.

Dick could remember how beautiful Jason’s smile had been, and wondered to himself if he’d ever seen Jason smile after his resurrection. It hurt to think that he hadn’t.

Just as Jason had become Robin, Dick had become Nightwing and the Teen Titans were formed. He was hardly around because he’d been so busy. Now everything seemed so… unimportant. He’d missed a lot of Jason’s childhood, and because of this he wondered what would have happened if he and Jason had just been closer. He hadn’t even been in the solar system when Jason had been killed by the Joker because he’d been off with the Titans fighting to help save Tamaran.

When Dick had gotten back to Earth, he’d been injured and exhausted. It was purely by chance that he’d overheard Danny talking about Robin. At first he hadn’t thought much of it, but when he’d heard him say ‘ _status unknown_ ’, Dick knew something was wrong. He’d sprung from bed, startling Kori in the process, and limped to the best of his ability to get to the Titans main computer. He’d had to use some of Bruce’s codes to get past the main screen, but when he did the world had stopped moving. Beside the picture of Jason, beautiful, smiling and happy, was the hideously bolded letters spelling the word **deceased**. His world collapsed in on itself, and he hadn’t been able to stop the tears and the sobs from wracking his body. His little brother, his beautiful little brother had died. And what had made things worse was that he’d been two weeks late to the funeral, and Bruce hadn’t even bothered to call and tell him.

Dick had promised himself that he would never take time with loved ones for granted again. And he’d stayed true to his promise, because when Tim came around he’d made it a point to be a part of Tim’s life. He’d done the same for Stephanie, Cass and Damian too. But when Jason had come back it had been so overwhelming.

The Jason that he’d lost was not the Jason that had come back to Gotham. The Jason that had come back was volatile, deadly and focused. He’d grown and he’d changed into a man that was so unrecognizable that neither Dick nor Bruce could believe that it was really him. Their way of helping him, had been to stop him. After everything was said and done, Jason had disappeared and they’d lost track of him. Only ever hearing reports that the illustrious Red Hood was out for blood as he killed gang members, rapists, pedophiles, and abusers.

Bruce managed to catch him once and send Jason off to Arkham. The conclusion that both he and Bruce had come to was that the Pit had driven Jason insane, but after Jason passed all his psyc exams he’d been sent to Black Gate and escaped not too long after. When they tried to track him down, they could never find him. Making Dick think that Jason was the one trying to prove he was sane, and that he just didn’t believe in Bruce’s morals.

Eventually they started hearing reports that the Red Hood had teamed up with Arsenal and Starfire, and that they were calling themselves the Outlaws. Dick knew that Roy was going through some hard times, and that his own break up with Kori wasn’t exactly cleanly handled. Jason’s team up with them left Dick feeling apprehensive, but whatever his past with Roy and Kori, he knew they were good people and that Jason would be okay. Together the Outlaws had become a very formidable team, and they’d formed a very close bond. Even now, apart as they are, Dick knew that they’d always have each other’s backs.

Slowly, over time Jason started to answer more of their hails to return to Gotham. He started to help out in their investigations and work, and it started to feel a little more like Jason had finally come home. But then there was the Injustice League, and Dick had ‘died’. Whatever relationship he’d started to rebuild with Jason it had instantly disappeared all over again. Sure, he’d come back and together all the Robins and Bats had worked together to fight in the Robin Wars, and take down organizations like the Court of Owls and Mother, but with everything going on there’d never been time to just talk.

He’d promised himself that he’d never again take time with loved ones for granted. But he’d broken his promise. If he had really wanted to fix his relationship with Jason then he could’ve tried, and now he may never get the chance to because Jason laid motionless on the medbay cot with possibly days or hours to live. The thought that he could lose Jason all over again was crippling. This was never supposed to happen. Jason was never supposed to die in the first place. This just shouldn’t be happening.

Dick’s thoughts and pacing was interrupted when a beeping from the computers grabbed his attention. He walked over to Tim and looked at the screen. Tim seemed hesitant for a moment, and Dick raised an eyebrow.

“What is it?” he asked, his arm going over the back of the chair tiredly.

“Well, it’s a call. But it’s on Jason’s signal.” Tim replied, sounding both tired and suspicious.

“Put it through.” Dick answered, curious to see what exactly was going on.

Tim pressed a couple keys to open the channel.

_“So I bet you guys are totally wondering how I got this signal, well maybe not, but still. I’ve got some questions I was hoping you Bats could help with.”_

Roy Harper’s voice carried over the line and Dick felt his voice catch in the back of his throat. He hasn’t spoken to Roy, in well, years. Luckily Tim answered instead.

“Roy, we’re kind of busy at the moment. Make it quick.” Tim said.

_“Okay, so usually when Jay’s doing a job he’ll call me when it’s done. But it’s been three- almost four days. I was wondering if he’s around the cave or if you’ve heard anything.”_ Roy answered.

Tim took a long breath and rubbed his forehead before answering. “He’s here. Whatever job he was running it went south. He’s been poisoned by one of Lady Shiva’s finest- a hybrid of two poisons and some kind of mutated bacteria. I’m having trouble with synthesizing an antidote.”

_“Jesus fuck, I told him not to take the fucking job. I told him it sounded too easy and instead I get ‘oh don’t worry Roy, it’ll be fine Roy, don’t be such a pussy Roy’. I’m going to kick his ass after this. And dammit, when I fucking get a hold of Tara-.”_ Roy cut himself off and he takes a breath, letting it out shakily. _“Fucking hell, if he dies I’m going to kill him. Okay, fuck, send me whatever information you’ve got on the poison. I’ll work on it here on my end.”_

 “Sure thing.” Tim answered, and prepared the data and sent it through to Roy. “Maybe you’ll see something I’m missing.”

_“What’s his condition? He’s at least stable, right?”_ Roy asked, obvious strain in his voice.

“We’ve almost lost him twice already. We need to figure this out as fast as possible. Jason could have hours for all we know.” Tim answered, sounding more determined than tired.

_“What’s his current symptoms? Tell me everything.”_

“His temperature is only slightly above normal.” Tim answered.

_“Normal for us or normal for him?”_ Roy countered. _“Jason’s resting body temperature is 34 °C as opposed to our 37°C.”_

“If that’s the case then he has a very high fever.” Tim said, then looked up at Dick. “Dick, get Dr. Thompkins. She should hear this.”

Dr. Thompkins was sitting in one of the chairs off to the side of the cave close to the medbay with her head propped up on her hand as she leaned on the chairs armrest. Her eyes were closed as she attempted to get a little rest, but refusing to leave the vicinity of her patient. Dick woke her and explained the situation, then she followed him back to the computers.

“Mr. Harper, I could use any information you have.” She said.

_“Sure thing Doc. To start, Jason’s normal body temperature is 34°C. Before you ask how, let me just say most of what I have to say are in some way connected to the Pit.”_ Roy explained. _“Next. The Pit has also helped Jason fight poisons in the past, he’s got mild regenerative capabilities. Also, tell me all the symptoms he’s experiencing, the League of Assassin’s has got a number of poisons. Some more common than others but Jay’s gone up against them before. We might already have an antidote and not know it.”_

“Originally his heart rate was very rapid, but it has since slowed. It’s actually become rather constant, and I fear he could slip into a coma. The base poisons, hemlock and belladonna, both have paralysis capabilities. Which have stopped his heart twice already. High temperature, and excessive perspiration, also occasional convulsions and trembling. He’s suffered a punctured lung as excess trauma, but it appears that his breathing is deteriorating regardless.” Dr. Thompkins listed.

_“When he was conscious, did it look like he was having difficulty with balancing?”_ Roy asked, sounding like he was coming to a conclusion.

“Yes. I only saw him from a distance, but he appeared to stagger in his footing.” Dick spoke up for the first time.

_“I think I have an idea on what this could be. The League called it Feldurathistle, it’s only somewhat commonly used, but it’s damn deadly. It’s been what, three days? He’ll be dead in another if he doesn’t get an antidote. And I think Jay would have some of the antidote at one of his safe houses. I’m not in Gotham, so one of you Bats will have to go get it.”_ Roy answered.

“I’ll go, but we don’t know where any of Jason’s safe houses are.” Dick said.

_“Great, Jay’s going to hate me for this. One sec.”_ a pause and what sounded like some shifting papers and some typing and then Roy was speaking again. _“Alright, the first one is just outside crime alley, Rose and Third street. There’s the Henway apartment building, floor 7 room 73. Second is down town, Bathurst and Midtown, Royal’s apartment building, floor 11 room 1117. And third, east side Gotham, Young and Rockwell, the 5 th Estate apartment building penthouse. I suggest more than just Dick going out, all these are pretty separated and we’re running against a clock here.”_

“I’ll take Henway, Tim you’ve got Royals.” Dick said and glanced towards the medbay and saw Cassandra walking out. “Cass, you’ve got the 5th Estate penthouse. Tim, patch Roy through on the coms, we’ll need him to tell us how to deactivate Jason’s security.”

Dick returned to his motorcycle and used to kick start and revved the engine a couple times to ensure the bike didn’t stall. He put on his helmet and sped out of the cave. He raced down the highways of Gotham dodging past cars and accelerating. He didn’t even consider the possibility of cops chasing him because they really didn’t matter right now. He swerved onto the off ramp and into the slums of Crime Alley. The GPS between the handles of the bike helped to direct him down the streets until he reached his destination.

Crime Alley isn’t exactly known for its nice atmosphere and adequate housing. And the Henway apartment building certainly didn’t stick out as anything special with its sign half burn out, and the outside bricks riddled with graffiti and particularly seedy looking excuse for a ‘locked’ front door that hung on its hinges like it had been kicked in a few too many times.

Dick pressed his finger to activate the com in his ear.

“Fire escape or front door?” he asked.

_“Fire escape, it’s not like there’s an elevator in that dump anyways.”_ Roy answered. _“For that one Dick, just open the window and there should be a panel behind a bookshelf. To deactivate the alarms use code 3571983.”_

Dick walked around to the side of the building to find the fire escape. It looked especially rickety, and more than a little rusted. He didn’t really care though, he needed to get up there anyways. So he began his climb. It didn’t take very long, and then he did as Roy instructed, he opened the window and ducked inside. The lights were off, but there was enough light for him to see the bookshelf pushed up against the right side of the room. When he looked behind it, a black panel had been installed and inserted into the wall, he touched it once to activate the touchpad and inputted the code. With the alarms deactivated, he turned on the lights and took a quick moment to gaze around.

Not much furniture, just a simple brown couch and a small dinner table with two matching chairs that lead to the small kitchen. There was only two other rooms, probably the bathroom and the bedroom.

“Where would he keep the antidote?” Dick asked again.

_“Try the bedroom, either in the side table or under the mattress.”_ Came Roy’s reply.

Dick walked to the closest room, it was the bedroom, and he turned the lights on too. He checked the side table first. He pulled out the first drawer and saw a number of knives and stray bullets, and was that a condom? Jesus, he didn’t need to let his mind wander right now. He checked the other two to find similar contents. But there was nothing even resembling an antidote vial in the side table so he moved on.

The bed looked clean, and the covers were cleanly and crisply folded. He moved to the end of the bed and lifted the mattress. He found a grey metal case, so he grabbed it and sat down on the mattress to open it and inspect its contents.

There had to be at least fifteen vials, he read each of the labels to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Then he found it, the one labeled F.thistle. Some of the weight that had started to become a constant pressure on Dick chest lifted. He then packed all the vials back into the case, and decided it was best he took all of them back to the cave with him anyways.

“I’ve got it.” Dick spoke into the coms already having turned off the lights and making his way down the fire escape.

_“Thank god, now get back to_ – _what are you doing Da – shh I’m on the phone, go back to bed.”_ Carried over the coms.

Dick was pulling his helmet back on and just about ready to kick start his bike when he heard it. It was obviously still coming from Roy’s line, but the voice sounded distinctly from … a little girl? He tried to brush the thought aside for the meantime. He took off down the streets once more at a breakneck speed.

“I’ve also found some antidotes, I’ll bring them back to the cave with me.” Tim’s voice filtered over the coms.

“Nothing here.” Cassandra said. “I will return.”

Dick was the first to arrive and Dr. Thompkins was waiting, and ready to administer the antidote. He opened the case and handed her the correct vial. She took it and returned to the medbay quick on her feet. Dick let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and sat down on one of the chairs beside a small table. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead tiredly.

“Crisis averted again it seems. Would you like some tea Master Richard?” Alfred asked, having come up silently to stand behind him.

He knew better than to refuse Alfred’s offer, so he turned to smile up at him. “Sure, thanks Alfred.”

By the time Tim and Cassandra had returned Alfred had finished the tea and brought down enough for the three of them and extra for Dr. Thompkins if she wanted it. Dr. Thompkins of course took the offered tea and explained that the next twenty-four hours would be critical, but it seemed as though Roy had been right with his assumption as to what poison Shiva has used, because already Jason’s heart rate was returning to a more normal level.

Tim was exhausted and retired back to his room in the manor after he finished talking to Roy. At some point Stephanie and Damian returned and Steph pulled Cassandra back up into the manor to get cleaned up and actually have a good nights’ rest, even though Cassandra didn’t seem particularly happy about it. Dick remained in the cave, still finding it difficult to sleep regardless of how his bones felt like they were creaking and the area under his eyes felt numb.

Damian, now fifteen had grown to reach a height of 5’9’’ still only a little shorter than Dick, but still growing and probably far from finished, also hung around the cave. He’d taken a shower and undressed from his Robin uniform, then taken a seat just to Dick’s left.

“Father hasn’t called in.” he said.

“No. Whatever he thinks he’s going to get out of Deathstroke, he’s going to do it alone.” Dick answered. “Don’t worry about Bruce, he’s got it handled. Go rest up, you’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Is Todd…”

“He’ll be fine.”

“Father doesn’t trust him. So why should we try to save him?” Damian asked, but averted his eyes to the side to avoid Dick’s gaze.

“Whatever Bruce’s reasoning is, it shouldn’t matter to the rest of us. Jason might not follow Bruce or the Bat, but he’d always be there for the rest of us, he’s family Damian. And we don’t let family die if we can help it.” Dick had to choose his words carefully. Damian and Jason never had much of a chance to build a relationship, not like how Dick had with Damian.

Damian fell silent but nodded his understanding, then he too left to return back to his room in the manor. Dr. Thompkins was running a couple tests but she was beginning to slow down and eventually retired to the caves spare bedroom to rest once she was satisfied Jason was stabilized and the antidote was doing its job.

Dick just sat in his chair and stared at the open doorway to the medbay room. He bit the inside of his cheek, but decided that he needed to see Jason, just to make sure he was still there- still alive. He picked himself up, feeling the effects of no sleep for nearly four days, but pushed past it. He entered the dimly lit room and sat in the chair Cassandra had used for the past three days sitting vigil beside Jason.

He looked over Jason’s still form, noting that already it looked like some of the color was returning to his skin and his cheeks no longer looked flushed. Dick listened to his breathing, it sounded a little forced as he took in short breaths that rasped in his chest. His dark hair, and the white streak was brushed away from his forehead. Dick had to wonder when exactly the white streak had shown up, because he couldn’t remember seeing it until recently. He had to look a little harder to see them in the dim lighting, but Jason still had a dusting of freckles over his nose and cheekbones. It made Dick’s heart swell.

Finally the tiredness was taking over and sleep was calling him. Dick slouched a little on the chair and leaned his head back. He took one last glance at Jason’s profile, then closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

______________

Bruce tracked Deathstroke from Gotham to Star City, to Toronto Canada and then overseas to London England. He kept his distance in the beginning, but after observing and trying to gather intel for the three days he was fairly certain that it was Deathstroke that had taken out Smore’s gang.

Oracle had managed to slip through Slade’s firewalls, which she’d stressed wasn’t an easy job, and that she was probably the only person on the planet that could do what she did. Bruce used this to keep constant surveillance on all of Slade’s communications. He’d had a quick exchange to take care of in Star City, and a pickup in Toronto, but he had been contacted by a man named Charles Mayer and would be meeting him not a day later in London England. Bruce left without a word to make sure he made it in time.

During the flight he did all the research he could on Charles Mayer. He found that Mayer was born in Luxembourg on March 22nd 1978\. He grew up under the care of his father in Italy, until his father died from unknown causes. His father also had close ties to the Italian mob. Mayer then took over his father’s position in the mob and moved his operations to England. He’s managed to evade the English secret service for almost a decade, but has also kept a low enough profile that nothing has been directly credited to him. It has been speculated that he’s the one behind a small time drug trade and an arms movement across Europe. But peculiarly, any known associated that have been apprehended and sent to jail have died behind bars, again from unknown causes. Bruce could only assume that Mr. Smore must’ve been somewhat connected to Charles Mayer, but in what way he didn’t know yet.

He kept to the shadows and from a distance he surveyed the meeting place. Three hours north of London City in a warehouse district more than ten armored cars and perhaps more than sixty men walked the grounds, all of which very discreetly carried weapons. The set up looked to be very well thought out and planned to be executed in such a way that even if the authorities knew about it, they wouldn’t be able to prove anything.

The central building that the meeting would take place in hardly had any windows, and it was built completely from metal. Scraps of metal were littered on the outside walls indicating that the warehouse would have been a metal factory before it had been abandoned. He circled the area and headed to an adjacent warehouse. He used his grapple to scale up the side of the wall and to spring himself up and into the air. Once airborne he opened his cape and used it to glide over the gang members and armored cars to land on his target warehouse roof.

At the opposite end of the roof two guards walked the area surveying the ground below, so when Bruce landed silently he crouched and sprang up behind them to pull them into a headlock and knock them unconscious. He ended for the rooftop door and pushed inside, he followed the stairs down and cleared every corner before entering any new hallway. When the number of guards started to become overwhelming he found a vent open and continued through the warehouse avoiding the armed guards.

The vent system led him to a position that overlooked the ground floor. A couple armed guards walked the expanse of the large empty room but Charles Mayer and Slade Wilson stood off to the side of the building. Luckily, it happened to be the side Bruce was already on. Using the tech in his cowl, he was able to focus the sensors in to listen to their conversation.

“It’s done. Smore is dead, same goes for his excuse for a gang.” Slade said.

“Good. Your payment has been prepared. I trust there was no complications.” Mr. Mayer replied.

“Smore was trying to contract Shiva to work for him. Must suck to know he walked out of your little organization with enough money to flaunt it in Gotham.” Slade chuckled darkly. “But I think you’ve got bigger problems to worry about.”

“Explain.”

“Battleworth is sticking her nose into this set up of yours. She sent her hired dog after Smore, that wannabe bounty hunter Red Hood, so she knows something. You and whoever you work for need get control of your forces. Battleworth has a lot of connections, and I’m warning ya’ now. If she offers me a bigger check than the one this organization is, I’ll take her up on it.” Warned Slade.

“You should watch yourself.” Hissed Mayer.

“Please. You won’t find anyone better than me, so _you_ watch yourself Charles. Because I almost think I’d kill you for free.”

A silence stretched for several long moments before Mayer spoke up once more.

“The details for your next job will be forwarded to you soon. Next time, if the Red Hood gets involved- _kill him_.”

“It’ll cost extra.” Slade said flatly.

“I don’t care. Get. _It._ Done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i'm usually really plot focused and i love plot twists and putting in hidden easter eggs. The first person to figure out what 3571983 references to will get... i don't know, how about some virtual cookies! Also characters like Smore and Mayer are just people i've had to make up for the sake of my plot.
> 
> And dudes, ROY is so much fun to write. Now i'm excited for the next chapter, because Jay's going to wake up and - i won't say much more. 
> 
> I have a friend helping me to edit, but right now all my chapters are unedited. I'll update them when she finishes. I just get excited and tend to post before she's finished. Sue me.
> 
> Tell me what you thought? :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bleh, so it takes me at least a week to finish a chapter is what i've found. Writing is hard. But yeah, so i've got one midterm left next week and then i'm done. So i hope to update once a week, or one every two weeks if things get tough. 
> 
> Moving on! Has anyone heard about DC Rebirth? They're renewing Red Hood and The Outlaws! I know a lot of people didn't care for the book, but it was actually the series that got me into reading comic books. And i just loved Jason, Roy and Kori together. Maybe i'll put a post (more like an essay, lol) together about my thoughts on the series, and put it on my tumblr or something. I dunno, maybe when i get the time lol. PS, they're also bringing back Nightwing! FRICK YES. Grayson is good, but it just doesn't feel like a Dick Grayson story to me. I think they should bring Dick's Nightwing back with the blue fingerstripes.
> 
> As for this story; man i've got a LONG way to go. Not much has happened just yet in terms of relationships. And at some point things will get *ahem* explicit, but i'd really like to focus my time on character development because comics are great but they hardly have time to flesh out characters. That and man have i got a lot of planning i've still got to get done on the overall plot. I've got these main points i'd like to cover, but i need to fill in the in between. This is a lot of work man.
> 
> Also because someone asked in the comments, i'll confirm here. Jason is 23 in this story. And Dick is 27. Basically just make everyone 4 years older than they are in the current continuity.
> 
> Without further ado! Enjoy the update!

Never ending, black, infinite, and suffocating darkness had settled like a fog upon Jason’s mind and weighed heavily upon his body. Sometimes he felt like he was actually awake but he couldn’t move anything or open his eyes to actually prove to himself that he was. He felt trapped within his own body. Other times when he’d slip back into the fog he’d see snippets of his past, and wasn’t that always fun.

In the beginning of his dreams he saw some of his happiest moments; putting on the Robin uniform for the first time, cooking with Alfred, when he was praised by Bruce, and fishing with Dick. He also saw memories of rooftop tag, ice cream breaks and quiet nights with Cassandra. And then there was memories of pranks he’d pulled, team ups and breakfast early in the mornings with Tim.

Then there were snippets of moments with Roy and Kori; like when they would have movie nights that would always end up with the three of them piled onto one couch, snuggled under one blanket and sleeping more on top of each other than anything else. Kori’s constant warmth both in spirit and her natural radiating temperature. Roy’s goof ball personality, but always so keenly loyal to his friends. Deula’s unique but incredibly funny sense of humor that has never failed to make him laugh. And when he and Roy met Lian for the first time.

But things turned dark just as they always do. He could see his mother’s lifeless face from when he’d found her overdosed and dead. When he was cold, wet and starving on the streets. When that man- that _police officer_ , would touch him. Then there was the Joker, and even though the fog settled on his mind he could see the Joker’s face as clearly as ever; bleached pale white skin, eyes like dark lifeless pits, lips as red as Jason’s blood on the warehouse floor and teeth as rotten as the Joker’s very soul.

In Jason’s paralyzed state, held down by the weight of the fog and darkness he felt like he was reliving every slash and blow the Joker dealt him. He could hear his biological mother’s screams, the Joker’s cackling laugh, and the final _tick-tick-ticking_ countdown to the explosion. And still he was paralyzed by the darkness that felt like cinderblocks had been tied to his arms and legs and he’d been dropped into the ocean.

Then he was screaming, screaming for Batman because he allowed himself to hope that he’d survived the explosion and that Bruce would be there to find him. But then he was drowning in the toxic green of the Lazurus Pit, fighting for air and feeling himself burning from the heat and the acidic taste the waters had left on his tongue. He could feel the crushing weight settling on his chest as he watched the new Robin jump over rooftops with Batman. The feelings of being unwanted, useless, forgotten, and _betrayed_ were taking over. And wishing to die because this wasn’t the world he’d left behind.

Then quick flashes; Dick’s funeral, Kori overdosing, Bruce bringing him back to the remains of the warehouse he’d died in, Roy inches from death with skin burned and charred, staying up days at a time with Deula helping to calm her severe anxiety and talk her down from self-harming decisions, and being alone after a finished job staring at a bullet he kept tucked deep in his right jacket pocket for the day he finally can’t take it anymore.

And finally there was the three of them; Bruce, the Joker and himself. All in a warehouse ready to blow, and he was the one selected to be the martyr, the sacrifice, and the final punchline. Where he’d been tortured, brought to the end of the line, and expected to roll over and let it all happen.

It started to hurt more and more to breathe and he began to wonder to himself if he was even alive. He wondered if this was all a dream, some kind of hallucination, or was he actually dead and this was the eternity he’d been damned to? To relive all his worst moments from both his lifetimes.

But then the fog slowly began to lift and it didn’t hurt to breathe anymore. Sometimes he could hear movement around him, or the weight of a hand in his. He could hear people talking, but it sounded like they were far away. He eventually tried to move his hand, fingers, anything to prove to himself he wasn’t dead. He managed to move his fingers a bit, feeling the firmness of the mattress he laid on. Next he focused his energy on trying to open his eyes.

It took several tries, but he eventually managed to open them if at least only slightly. A woman hovered over him in a white doctor’s coat. She smiled kindly down at him and said something he couldn’t quite make out in his still muddled thoughts. But he knew he recognized her, and that he could trust her. When his eyelids fell he knew he wasn’t going to die like this.

This time in his sleep his dreams became obscured and random. The images became twisted and grotesque and horrific. He could hear a sort of cackling laughter, quiet at first but getting louder and closer to him. His arms and legs were now responding to him, so he ran through the darkness. Still the laughter was getting closer, and he was beginning to panic. He ran faster with no idea of where he was going. His breathing became ragged. And in the distance, through the darkness he thought he might see light. It was still so far away but he ran and ran and ran. The closer he got he started to make out the shape of a woman; small in stature, hunched forward and covered in bulky robes. The realization that he was seeing his mentor, Ducra, made him hope that he could be safe. But she was still just so far away, so out of his reach.

 _This is only the beginning_.

“ _Jason?_ ”

He opened his eyes and found himself still breathing hard and sitting up in what appeared to be a hospital bed. His body ached and throbbed but he was very much alive.

“Jason, are you okay?” the voice asked again.

He was still just getting his mind out of the strange madhouse of his dreams. And what the hell was that last part supposed to mean? So when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder, on reflex he flinched and pulled into himself trying to get away from whatever was touching him. Panic spiking within him, hoping that his dreams were just dreams.

“ _Don’t!_ Just don’t.” he breathed out shakily and hated himself for it. But he couldn’t deal with someone touching him right now. He just couldn’t.

He covered his face with his hands and then took a couple deep breaths, steadying himself before lying back on the bed. He rubbed his fingers over his eyes and then let them fall to his sides to look at whoever was sitting beside him. It was Dick; looking more than a little exhausted and had a surprised , but concerned wideness to his eyes.

“You look like hell.” Jason croaked, just noticing his throat felt like sand paper.

Dick let out a huff of breath smiling a bit and reached for a water bottle on a bedside table, he unscrewed it and handed it to Jason. He took it, and shifted onto his side so he could drink without choking.

“I still look better than you.” Dick said, and took the water bottle when Jason was finished with it.

The memories of his fight with Shiva and the realization he was poisoned came rushing back to him. And he remembered Bruce, taking things into his own hands and making everything worse. He groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

 _Fuck_.

He hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. Fucking _shit_. When he’d gotten the call from Tara, she’d said it would be a simple in and out job. Just pick up the asshat Smore and drive him to Tara’s drop point to get rid of him and pick up his payment. But fuck, Shiva isn’t just something you don’t know about. Especially when you’re Tara. She would have known. And knowing her, she would have sent him in anyways. Oh she’s about to get a piece of his mind for sending him into the lion’s den.

“How long has it been?” he asked, staring at the ceiling.

“A week and a half.”

Jason almost groaned at that. “I need a phone.”

“Jason, it’s almost five AM.”

Jason turned his attention to Dick and very firmly said, “I don’t care. I need a phone.”

Dick held his ground though, “You need to rest Jason. Whoever you need to call can wait.”

“Either you get me a phone, or I’ll get one myself.” He said, pushing himself up a bit feeling the strain it put on his tired body. It hurt, but he wasn’t about to back down from this.

“Fine.” Dick said, biting his lip and reluctantly getting up from his chair and leaving the medbay room. He returned a few moments later, and handed Jason the cell phone.

Jason managed to prop himself up against the headboard of the bed and with mildly shaky fingers he dialed the number Tara was sure to pick up. He then lifted the phone to his ear and waited, not really caring too much that Dick had sat back in his chair. It ringed once, twice and then half way through the third she answered.

“Where the _hell_ have you been?” Tara’s firm voice carried over the line crisply.

“Dealing with being poisoned by _Shiva_. Let me say that again Tara. _Shiva_. Don’t bullshit me by telling me you didn’t know about her. It’s your damn job to know. And you _dare_ send me in alone without the right information?” he shot back, sounding equally tired and pissed.

“Your job is to do what I tell you to do, when I tell you, and to complete it accordingly. Any hazards along the way _do not matter_.” Her voice was hard and commanding.

“ _The hell it does!_ You send me in for a simple gang bust- one that you’d led me to believe to be a total joke. And when I show up what do I find? Hired guns with twice as much fire power as what’s practically needed, Lady Shiva, and _Deathstroke_. _Are you fucking kidding me right now?_ Intelligence is you game, and sure, I might be the dog that does your dirty work, but I need viable information. Not some bullshit you’ve strung together to look like an easy job. What the _fuck_ have you involved me with, because this isn’t just Smore anymore, this is bigger.”

He heard Tara take a deep breath, stalling for a moment before speaking up again sounding resigned. “You’re in this now whether you like it or not.”

“ _Tara._ ” He lowered his voice in warning.

“ _Enough_. I’ll contact you in a couple days. Rest.”

She hung up.

Jason pulled the phone from his ear and glared at the screen for a moment. He was frustrated with Tara. She knew better than to jerk him around, because she also knew that he was the best she had. Tara couldn’t afford to piss him off.

He let his mind linger for a moment. He tried to remember if anything was supposed to have happened during his week and a half unconscious. He’d missed his call to Deula. He knew her well enough to know she’d worry herself to death if he didn’t call her to let her know he’s alright. And he needed to call Roy too. Deula would have to wait, as she’d probably be asleep right now, and the nurses wouldn’t accept phone calls at this hour. But Roy would be up. He’s always up. That and the time zone difference would put him at about 2am?

He dialed Roy’s number, but noticed that his hand still trembled. And he knew that whatever he’d been poisoned with really knocked him on his ass. He wasn’t looking forward to the recovery process. The line ringed a few times, but then Roy answered.

“Hello?” His voice carried over the line.

“So I’m alive.”

“Jay!” he exclaimed, “Damn is it good to hear your voice. How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

Jason felt a small smile form of his lips, but he was suddenly conscious of the fact Dick was still beside him watching him. He averted his eyes from looking at Dick and instead stared down at his legs covered by a white sheet. He also noticed he’d been dressed into a pair of dark grey track pants and a black t-shirt. His ribs also ached, and he could feel the pressure of wrapped gauze around his waist and thigh. And he assumed that nothing in his arm had been broken when he’d blocked a kick from Shiva, but his entire left forearm was an ugly combination of purple, blue, yellow and red in some places. But he was alright, sore and already feeling tiredness sink back into him, but he was okay.

“I’m alright.” He answered, his voice softening a bit.

“Good then. Because next time I see you I’m going to kick your ass.”

Jason chuckled, and a wide smile spread across his face. “Noted.”

“Jay, I swear you’re going to be the death of me.” Roy took a deep breath that he then let out slowly. “I worry about you sometimes. Actually, I always worry about you. Just… tell me this wasn’t the plan. That you didn’t just…”

“No, Roy. None of that. The information I got from Tara was wrong. I just called her, she knew about Shiva and I definitely know she’s holding something back. She says she’ll call me back in a few days.” He answered, but felt his chest ache a little when he heard the strained emotion in Roy’s voice. “Hey, did you tell Deula what happened? I missed my call.”

“Yeah, yeah I did. She called me almost a week ago asking about you. I told her you were poisoned and that you’d probably be out for a week or so. I just spoke to her yesterday, she’s been really worried Jay. Give her a call when you can, you and I both know how much you mean to her.” Roy said.

Jason’s relationship with Deula had started off kinda rocky, but Jason always knew she was a good kid. She had been hardly sixteen when she’d joined in with Roy and himself. She’d been violent, brash and prone to causing more trouble than just about anything else. But she was also incredibly self-sacrificing, light hearted and sweet. Jason knew when he first saw her that she was angry at the world, much like he had been after his resurrection. He also knew that he was probably one of the few that could ever understand her, and by taking her under his wing she changed for the better. Jason really loved her like a sister, and she looked up to him like an older brother. He cared deeply for her.

Jason could feel the weight of his limbs a little more heavily. He was getting tired again, even with over a week of being unconscious he still felt exhausted. He blinked, feeling his eyelids droop a bit.

“Lian’s been worried too. The kid is too perceptive for a six year old. I had to tell her you were really sick when she started asking too many questions. She’s been asking about you for days, and she’s been staying up way past her bed time hoping you’d call home.” Roy groaned a moment, and Jason could hear some shuffling. “Lian, bedtime was- _jeez_ , five hours ago.”

“ _But Daddy, I can’t sleep._ ” Lian’s voice carried over the phone. She sounded tired, but hopeful. “ _Is that Uncle Jay?”_

“Pumpkin wants to talk to you.” Roy said, and Jason could picture him smiling. “Do me a favor and tell her to go to bed. She’s so stubborn, but she listens to you.”

“Put her on.” He said smiling, but once again he was reminded that Dick was sitting right beside him. Roy hadn’t made it widely known he had a daughter, and it wasn’t Jason’s place to expose this part of Roy’s life to Dick. So he’d have to be careful with his wording.

He heard an excited little squeal in the background before the phone was passed over.

“Uncle Jay! I’ve been so worried, Daddy said you were really sick. But you’re okay now right?” Lian’s said kinda quickly in her excitement.

Jason switched to speaking Vietnamese, hoping Dick didn’t know the language. “Let’s practice your viet Lian. I’m better now little one. And it means a lot that you’ve been thinking about me.”

Lian answered back in Viet. “I love you Uncle Jay, and I miss you. Come home.”

“I’m better, but I need rest pumpkin. I’m really tired, and you should go to bed too. You’ll need your rest too for when you go to school.” He answered.

“I know…” Lian said, trailing off a bit. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Now put your dad back on, and get to bed.”

“I love you, goodnight Uncle Jay.”

“Love you too, goodnight Lian.” He said fondly.

There were some sounds in the background, and Jason could hear Roy telling Lian to get to bed. But then things went quiet and Jason just waited for Roy to return. However, he could feel the exhaustion seeping into his body, the aches in his arms and legs were lulling him into a sense of numbness. He rubbed his hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up a bit.

“Finally.” Roy let out a breath of air. “She’s off to bed. I swear her teachers think I don’t take care of her or something. Anyways, Jay, you were hit with Feldurathistle.”

Jason inwardly groaned. Damn, that was the reason for why his dreams were so fucked. Feldurathistle is extremely potent, often leading to death if it’s left in someone’s system for too long. The symptoms being the numbing of his extremities, massive migraines, blurred vision, high fever, sped up heart rate, with later symptoms adding in paralysis, and hallucinations. He’d been hit by a dose once before, about two years ago now, and it’d kept him off his feet for almost three weeks. Now he could look forward to bouts of nausea, dizziness, feeling like he was constantly exhausted, lack of appetite, and the worst of all being that the hallucinations aren’t going to go away all that quickly either.

“ _Fuck_.” He breathed out.

But god was he tired right now. It was becoming difficult to focus on holding the phone against his ear and ignore the aches throughout his body.

“You sound exhausted.” Roy said softly. “Get some sleep. Call me whenever, okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll call you.” He said, trailing off a bit.

Roy chuckled warmly, “Okay. I love you, ya’ idiot. Goodnight.”

Jason’s eyes where feeling heavier, “Hmm.” He hummed his answer, and pulled the phone from his ear to end the call.

He held out the phone and Dick took it from his hand. He winced a little as he shuffled back down the bed to lie back on the bed, his head falling onto the soft pillow. He breathed in deeply and was just about to close his eyes when Dick spoke up.

“We almost lost you, y’know. If it wasn’t for Roy we might have…” Dick’s voice sounded tight. “We tried, really we did. But Roy knew, and he saved your life.”

“He does that a lot.” Jason said, then let his eyelids fall and he felt the pull into sleep taking over. He took a couple deep breaths, and then his aches, the pain and the exhaustion he felt slipped away and he fell asleep.

_________

At first it was surprise that gripped Dick when Jason suddenly sat up in the med cot, breathing hard and trembling. Dick had reached out his hand in the hope to help. But the raw pain and strained emotion in Jason’s voice made him pull away quickly. He hadn’t expected that reaction from Jason, and it struck him with how vulnerable he looked in those few seconds that he used to try and collect himself.

But it was when Jason leaned back and glanced at him Dick’s thoughts froze on the fact that Jason’s eyes were _not_ green. All the time he’d spent going through his memories of Jason as a kid, he always saw Jason with such bright green eyes that sparkled and shined with life. Sure, he’d seen Jason without his helmet loads of times since his resurrection, and it struck him as odd that he’d never noticed that Jason’s eyes were now a striking steel grey. _Why hadn’t he ever noticed before?_

One thing that never changed though was the fact that Jason never backed down when someone pushed him. Dick remembered that one alright. He’d reluctantly; biting back a few choice words of how Jason was still and probably always will be a brat, went to find a phone and returned to give it to Jason. He’d sat in silence in the chair beside the med bay cot.

Jason’s first call to a woman named Tara peaked Dick’s interests. They had no idea what Jason’s actual job was, and Dick had a number of questions he wanted to ask Jason. Bruce had yet to return to the cave, but once he did, aside from discussing whatever he’d found overseas, he also planned on having a very pointed discussion to find out just what the hell happened out on that roof. He was pissed, beyond pissed about Bruce’s actions because he knew, _he knew_ that if it was anyone else, Bruce wouldn’t have acted so blindly. It’s been almost a week and a half, and the only contact Bruce has had is with Barbara, but that’s only because he needed her to find him information. It frustrated Dick that Bruce was unwilling to share the information.

The tone of Jason’s voice changed completely when he spoke to Roy. He’d been firm and forceful when speaking to Tara, but he’d lost all that when speak to Roy and… someone else? And when in the world did Jason learn how to speak, was it Vietnamese? Dick only knew it was Viet because he’d had a couple missions in Vietnam when he’d been a part of Spyral, however, he’d never picked up the language because he hadn’t been in the country long enough to use it.

Dick knew he could read people, it’s a skill he’s had for many years from even before he’d become Robin. He could see how Jason’s hands trembled and shook as he dialed the numbers on the phone. He could see the way Jason shifted and winced when he sat up, and Dick could see just how exhausted Jason was in the way he rubbed his hand over her face and under his eyes. Dick also noted to himself that he suspected that Jason might have also lost some weight, he could see it in the hollows of his cheeks and how prominent his cheek bones looked, and he could see it in his shoulders and his wrists that looked thinner. It would have been hard to notice these things when he wore his Red Hood uniform because the armor and the jacket he wore covered it up well. These observations worried Dick.

It was the little things that Dick saw in Jason that were confirming his own thoughts that he knew _nothing_ about Jason. He knew nothing about his younger brother. He knew nothing about the life he led and the people he kept close. Dick could remember years back, hearing about a kid causing trouble in the Gotham underground. Her name was the Joker’s Daughter, she’d been manic, crazy, destructive, unpredictable and wild. But she hadn’t been that big of a deal in comparison to the rest of the problems they all faced. He’d heard that she’d joined up with Jason and Roy, and he’d thought it to be odd. The Joker’s Daughter had a record of killing people, sometimes without reason. That and she absolutely _idolized_ the Joker, so why would Jason ever get close to her?

But when Jason spoke to Roy, mentioning he’d missed his call to Deula, Dick wondered if he might have been wrong about his earlier assumptions. That and he couldn’t recall any recent dealings with the Joker’s Daughter for the past couple years. Something must’ve changed. Jason cared for Deula that much was clear from the softness of the expression on his face, and how he clearly worried for her.

When a smile spread over Jason’s face, Dick felt his heart jump in his chest. Jason’s eyes might be grey now, but they never lost their sparkle, they never lost their beauty. Dick felt his breath catch in the back of his throat as he watched Jason’s profile. The white streak contrasted gorgeously with his black hair; it made Jason look older, but not in years, in experience. It distinguished him, made him look, well, _damn good_. Dick had always thought Jason had been an undeniably cute kid, but the man Jason had grown into had lost his rounder face in favor of a defined jawline, sharp cheek bones and nose. He had some stubble growing in on his cheeks, and a short scar that cut down and over his jaw. He looked rugged, handsome, and dangerous in a way that few people could pull off.

But something in Dick felt like it was breaking when Jason tried to hide his smile. Jason shouldn’t be self-conscious, and if he wasn’t then Dick wished that Jason didn’t feel like he had to hide himself from him. He found himself hoping that it wouldn’t always have to be like this. Maybe, he’d get a proper look at Jason’s smile sometime.

Jason was exhausted, and once he’d settled back onto the cot and closed his eyes he was out within seconds. Dick didn’t know if there were any after effects of the poison, but he hoped they wouldn’t be too bad. It didn’t feel right to see Jason so tired, so exhausted, so obviously weakened that it was a struggle to stay awake for much more than a half hour.

Dick sat in his chair just listening to Jason’s quiet breathing. It was late, and he’d only managed a couple hours of rest before now. He let out a long sigh; he hadn’t gotten much sleep in the past week or so. His mind wouldn’t let him rest.

The almost soundless rumble of the Bat-planes’ engines carried up from deeper in the cave. Dick perked up at that, and heaved himself up from his seat. He took one last quick glance at Jason, before leaving the medbay and walking out to look down to the planes platform a couple sets of stairs down. Bruce, dressed in his Batman uniform, had hopped out of the plane and was now walking towards the computers. Dick walked to meet him.

Bruce had the cowl still up, and was running through several analyses, and it looked like he was also running some fingerprints and a picture of a woman with long black hair, and very light blue eyes that looked icy and cold was brought up on the side of the screen. Bruce had yet to acknowledge Dick. Several moments passed in silence, and all the while Dick’s patience was wearing thin.

“So what have you found?” he asked first, he tried to keep his voice from sounding too flat.

“This woman is Tara Battleworth.” He said, motioning to the woman on the screen.

“She has ties to the American government, and has built herself a strong reputation as being one of the most effective and ruthless problem handlers in the world. But she’s a ghost, her whereabouts is unknown, she doesn’t exist in any international database. She was the one who employed Jason to deal with Smore. And now she’s become involved in an international conspiracy.” Bruce explained, but remained focused on the data before him.

“It’s a network built off of drug cartels, weapons dealers, human traffickers, sex rings, politians and its starting to encroach upon law enforcement agencies throughout the world. All of it is being run by someone or a group of people, there is a chain of command that is highly organized but the leader is hidden. Ashford Smore was someone who got cocky; he’d climbed the ranks, and collected enough money from this mass crime network before taking what he had and getting out. However, he was less than intelligent. It appears that currently, the Gotham underground has not been taken in by this international network, my next step is to go speak to Black Mask directly and see what information he has.”

Dick took a moment to absorb all the information. This… well it sounded like another mess that they were going to have to fix.

“When Jason wakes up, don’t let him leave.” Bruce said, still not looking at Dick.

Dick felt himself instantly deflate, and then fill with anger.

“Y’know Jason can do whatever he wants when he wakes up. You have no right to keep him here.” Dick said flatly.

This must’ve warranted more of Bruce’s attention than the data he was going through, because he pulled back the cowl and turned his attention directly to Dick. Bruce looked tired, but he never didn’t look tired anyways. But his eyes looked hard, clearly not willing to back down.

“He will have information that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain. When he wakes up, he is not to leave.” Bruce said firmly.

“Jason is a person, not an information resource. He’s also _family._ Don’t you care that he almost died?” Dick asked, not willing to back down from this.

A couple moments of silence passed between them. Dick crossed his arms over his chest as he store at Bruce.

“ _Dick,_ this isn-.”

Dick cut him off. “Bruce, I don’t know what happened between you and Jason two years ago. And frankly, I don’t care. Because of whatever your problem is with him, you assumed the worst and in the process added to his injuries. When I said Jason _almost_ died, I actually mean he was _going_ to die. Lucius, Tim, Dr. Thompkins- all of them tried to find the cure to what Jason had been poisoned with. None of them could do it. If it wasn’t for Roy calling in, _by chance_ , Jason would’ve died. _Again_. And you wouldn’t have been here.”

“Don’t mistake my focus on the job for not caring.” Bruce said evenly. “Of course I care. Jason is my son, regardless of what has happened.”

“Then why don’t you act like it?” Dick said, his voice sounding hard. “If it had been _me_ , if _I_ was the one who was poisoned and dying, what if it was Tim or Barbara or Cassandra. What if it was _Damian_? Don’t tell me you’d just leave, because you wouldn’t.”

“You don’t understand.”

“No. _I don’t_.” Dick said pointedly. “Jason knew he’d been poisoned and still, he would rather risk his life trying to get to a safe house than just coming _home_. He would rather not ask for our help. What does this say Bruce? When did it get like this? Jason is family, and he deserves to be trusted and cared for and loved.”

Bruce held his gaze for a few seconds more before turning back to the computer screens. His fingers hovered over the keys for a second more, and then he began typing. Dick didn’t look away from the side of Bruce’s face.

“You don’t understand.” Is all Bruce said.

Dick let out a long breath shaking his head slightly in frustration, then turned on his heel and returned to the medbay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some people caught my nods to Lian in the previous chapters, which made me smile. And i totally believe that Jason and Roy are the best of best friends, and best friends can tell each other that they love each other without it being weird. 
> 
> And yo. Internal thoughts/monologues are my jam. I hope i covered how Dick is really just coming to a realization for the first time, and how much it's jarring him. Dick's got a lot of love in him, but he is by no means a push over. 
> 
> Next chapter expect more cute stuff with Jay and Cass, Tim, more of Dick's thoughts, Barbara, Deula, Tara, Bruce, and Jason finally getting out of the cave + more stuff with Roy because it's Roy, and some more progress in Jason and Dick's relationship.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i have no excuse for why this took too long other than life happens. And maybe a little bit of writers block tbh. Sometimes i read over my writing and i don't always feel too happy with it. So i hope i'm managing to get my points across well enough. I was at 6 pages for nearly a week, just staring and stuck on what exactly i wanted characters to say. I'm still not entirely happy with this chapter. Maybe i'll come back and edit/rewrite it again later. but i just wanted to get it out so i can move on to the next one which i've been looking forward to writing.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy!

Jason shuddered awake, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to breathe in air and his heart beating rapidly as it hammered against his ribs. It was the nightmares again. He could hardly get through a night without being bombarded with even more twisted and grotesque versions of his already present arsenal of personal horrors.

He groaned a little at the exhaustion he still felt. It’s been four days since his initial wake up. Each time he’s regained consciousness it’s been curtesy of the never ending nightmares that were only becoming more and more ghoulish and horrific. The last time he’d woken up, he’d been drenched in sweat, panting, trembling and thanking God that no one had been in the room to see him in such a state. Every time he awoke he told himself he was going to get out of the bed, and get out of the damn cave and out of Gotham.

The first time he’d managed to get himself out of the bed he’d very nearly collapsed on himself. If it wasn’t for Alfred’s impeccable timing, he’d have fallen and probably hurt himself and just made things worse. By the time he’d gotten settled back onto the bed whatever energy he thought he might’ve had disappeared. He was exhausted, beyond exhausted.

Jason could feel his stomach flipping, the nausea hadn’t really hit him till now it seemed. He really wasn’t in the mood to throw up, and he briefly thought to himself that he wouldn’t be throwing up much more than just water. The thought of food was really off putting at the moment.

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to get control over himself. He hated feeling this vulnerable, and he hated it even more that he was in this state while he was in the cave. He hated that he was basically trapped.

Jason took a moment to just listen to the sounds of the cave; he could hear the flutter of bats wings, and the occasional shrieks and cries they’d make. The rushing sound of water flowing through the depths of the cave carried to his ears as well. Once upon a time, Jason might have said that the cave was his favorite place in the world- but not anymore. It felt wrong to be here and suffocating and just… like he didn’t belong.

“Have you been able to find out any information on the poison- side effects, anything?” a voice said.

It took Jason a moment in the haze of his exhaustion to realize it was Dick speaking. It sounded like he was outside the medbay room, perhaps closer to the computers.

“League poisons are… difficult. I haven’t found out anything we haven’t already noted. But Doctor Thompkins thinks Jason is doing better.” Someone answered back. “But you know he won’t want to stick around as soon as he’s on his feet.”

That one was Tim.

Jason wasn’t too interested in listening to their conversation. Instead he rolled his body so that he was laying on his left side, and curled in on himself a little trying to focus on anything but the somersaults his stomach was so keen on performing. He was careful of his right side where his ribs had been broken.

He opened his eyes, and in the dim light he saw a blurry figure, small and reaching towards him. He very nearly jolted backwards as he felt panic spiking within him. But when his eyes cleared he calmed completely.

It was Cassandra. She paused, and placed her hand beside his as an offering. He shakily reached out his hand and took her smaller one in his.

She sighed, and Jason looked up to meet her gaze.

“Stupid.” She said, her eyebrows coming together and her lips pursed.

Jason would’ve laughed or come up with some kind of smart answer, but he was just so tired. Instead he settled for plain and simple.

“Yeah, I know.” He said, watching her, watching him.

“Should’ve called for help.” She said very pointedly.

He managed a small smirk. “You found me anyways.”

She glared at him, obviously unimpressed and very clearly upset. He squeezed her hand and her gaze softened a little. Her shoulders relaxed a bit, and she pulled her knees up to her chest as she sat on her chair. With her free hand she pressed the back of it to Jason’s forehead briefly and then ran her fingers through the white-stripe just over his forehead. The action felt calming and Jason breathed in deeply, feeling content in her company.

“Rest.” She said.

He blinked, feeling how heavy his eyelids felt. But also the conflicting emotions in his chest, telling him that all that waited for him in his dreams were the horrors of his past. They’d come to get him, and he wouldn’t get any rest.

“Can’t.”

Her fingers still brushed through his hair working to calm him further, and lulling him into a sense of security.

“Why?”

“They won’t let me.” He barely whispered. It was so easy to let his guard down when he was with Cass.

He watched her eyes soften in understanding, and she gave him a small smile. “I’ll protect you.”

Jason smiled despite himself, and he really believed her in that moment. If there was anyone that could fight back against everything he’d been through it would be Cassandra. He could confidently say he trusted her with his life, and he only reserved that for a grand total of five; Cass, Roy, Tim, Kori and Deula.

He weakly squeezed her hand and let his heavy eyes fall. His breathing slowed and he fell into a dreamless and comfortable sleep for the first time in a long while.

________

Dick watched silently from the doorway, thinking to himself that he couldn’t remember there ever being a time in his life that he’d seen Jason look so vulnerable and unbelievably open. Cassandra never really talked much, as she was still learning the English language, but more times than naught her actions spoke much louder.

He could see it in the way she let Jason choose to hold her hand, the amount of respect for him very evident in the gesture. And when Jason took her hand, the level of trust he hand in her put openly on display. Even his voice when he talked to her, calm, quiet, resigned and utterly truthful. Cass was gentle with him, and it didn’t seem to bother him, rather calm him further and lull him off into sleep.

Jason whispered something that Dick didn’t hear from his place by the doors. But Cassandra’s steady answer of ‘ _I’ll protect you_ ’ seemed to have the desired effect on Jason. In silence, he watched Cassandra run her fingers gently through the white stripe of hair on Jason’s head and the way that all the tension left Jason’s body as he fell asleep.

It was several minutes before Cassandra turned her attention away from Jason and instead towards Dick. She still held Jason’s hand.

“How’s he doing?” Dick asked quietly.

“Tired.” She answered.

“He really trusts you.” He said.

“Yes.” She said fondly.

The silence dragged on and then she returned her gaze back to Jason’s sleeping face, she then took his hand and held it in both her much smaller hands.

“I will stay with him.” She said.

Dick nodded and turned away from the small medbay room.

It’s Saturday now, almost two weeks since Jason had first come to the cave. It was only about 6pm so none of the nightly activities of the family had taken over yet. Bruce had been in and out of the cave for the past couple days since he’s been back, having to juggle his time between the investigation he’s been putting together and meetings at Wayne Enterprises. Dr. Thompkins had returned home now to stop by once a day, but mostly leaving Jason in the care of Alfred. Roy calls in once a day; if Jason’s up he speaks with him, if not then he speaks with Tim. Dick’s been in and out of the cave during the day and between him and Cassandra there was always someone by Jason’s side.

The problem Dick has had with being a legally dead, previously unmasked vigilante is that he tended to have a lot of time on his hands. At least when he was in Spyral he was out in the world doing something. Now all it seemed he had was time. Too much time that it felt frustrating and more times than naught he’d start to feel a little useless.

Bruce would always have a use for him. But he needed the man he was before Spyral, he needed Nightwing. And Nightwing is gone. He had the technology needed to let him come back to the world as Dick Grayson, and erase any knowledge that he was Nightwing. But it all seemed like such an easy out. Helena had told him of it and said she was willing to offer it to him. But after the chaos of what Spyral had wrought on the world, he wasn’t sure it would be right for him to just go back to his old life like nothing had happened. After all, no one had come out of that day unchanged.

Dick sighed, turning away back into the cave and brushing a hand back through his hair. He was only 27 but he felt so much older than that sometimes. This life that they all lead is hard. It’s stressful. And Dick sometimes thought that the good they did would never outweigh the bad that has happened. He had to remind himself not to get sucked into the darker parts of his mind from time to time. He carried a lot of guilt in him for not completing his objective against Spyral, it was his fault that so many people had been hurt, that some had died and that others would never be the same again.

“Dick.”

He turned to see Barbara coming towards him, she was looking at him a little skeptically. Making him think that maybe she’d called him a couple times and he just hadn’t heard her.

“What’s up Babs?” he asked.

Her eyebrow raised, but then she motioned for him to follow her. “Walk with me?”

“Sure.”

She led him to the cave’s elevator, taking him back up into the manor. She remained silent until they were in a mostly uninhabited part of the mansion.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time in the cave.” She started.

“Yeah, I guess I have.”

“And a lot of time in your head it seems.” She looked at him knowingly. “You can’t blame yourself for everything, especially when you weren’t even there.”

“It’s not that Barb.” He chuckled lightly then sighed. “I just… I can’t believe that after all these years I’ve never taken the time to actually know who Jason’s become. I’m angry at Bruce because he would leave while Jason is dying, all because of a case. Barb, you know as much as I do that if it was anyone other than Jason, Bruce wouldn’t have left.”

She nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.

“We’ve all been through a lot. This life isn’t meant to be easy, we’ve all been affected, hurt and driven into becoming things we never really expected. Both you and I have changed, we’ve both been through a lot. But Jason… he’s been fighting all his life. If you’re blaming yourself for not seeing this, then I’m just as equally at fault.” Barbara said.

“It just bothers me that when Jason was Robin I was never around like I was with Tim and Damian. I loved him, he was my little brother and yet I was never there for him.”

“Jason’s death wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t Bruce’s fault. And it wasn’t even his own fault. The Joker killed him, it’s the Joker’s fault and his fault alone.”

“We don’t even know what Jason was doing in Ethiopia in the first place. Bruce doesn’t tell us anything, and it’s not like any of us have ever just asked Jason what happened.” Dick said.

He felt guilty and sick with himself. How was it that the only way he realized all this was because Jason almost died all over again?

“When Jason came back, none of us just listened to what he had to say. He was angry, and hurt. Barbara, he was _murdered._ We all thought he’d gone crazy, that the Pit drove him insane and we stopped thinking of him as Jason the Robin we all loved. Instead we thought of him as the insane Red Hood, faceless, dangerous and not our brother. He was someone we had to stop, so we treated him like he was just as bad as if he was-.” Dick stressed.

Barbara stopped pushing herself in her wheel chair and she reached out to take his hand. She squeezed it firmly, pulling him to sit on a chair pushed up against the side of the wall. She positioned herself so she was in front of him.

“Dick just sit and listen to me for a moment.” She said firmly, gaining his attention.

He fell silent.

“You have a big heart, it’s something that makes you _you_. It’s something that I fell in love with. And I’ll be one of the first to say that I didn’t treat Jason any better than the rest of us. But I’ll also admit that we have all forgotten that Jason has a big heart too.” She said, taking his hands. “A couple years ago, back when we all thought you were dead, there was that whole thing with my dad. I was already a mess because of your death, but to have my dad framed and going to jail- I just felt like my world was ending. I was angry and I was just acting not thinking.

“Jason and Kate came to Brazil with me to track down a suspect. I went in full force, and in the process ended up getting hypnotized. I saw the two worst people in my life in the place of Jason and Kate. The Joker and my brother. I attacked him, fully prepared to kill him. Jason talked me through the entire thing. He spoke of an autumn sunset, a summer storm, a quiet night at the manor. I can remember now that it was when he first became Robin, when you left and neither of us were too happy about Bruce taking on someone new.

“I was quiet around him, I didn’t speak to him at all. And I didn’t spend any time with him. He thought it was because I nervous- that maybe I liked him. But really, I was angry. And I said to him ‘ _you will never be Dick Grayson_ ’.”

Barbara took a steadying breath and looked away from him for a second.

“When we came back to Gotham, I went after Jason Bard. He hurt the people of Gotham. And he ruined all the hard work my father put into fixing this city. I wanted to hurt him and make him suffer like how everyone in the city has suffered. I had him hanging off the side of a building from one of my cables. Jason found me, took the cable from me and let Jason Bard go. He said that I was better than him, that I was better than any of the Robins. Of course I caught the cable in time, but the point was that killing criminals isn’t the type of person I am, but it is who Jason is. He does what he thinks is right, what he thinks he has to do.

“We spoke for a little while after that. I was slowly starting to see more and more of you in him. I missed you more than anything, but then all of a sudden Jason was there and he just _got it_. He knew how to handle me when I was angry, how to talk me down and bring me back. I asked him to stay in Gotham, to help the family save this city, and mentioned that maybe there could me _more_. He said that Gotham had never been enough for him. But then he reminded me again and said ‘ _I will never be Dick Grayson_ ’. And then he left.”

Barbara fell silent and Dick didn’t say anything either.

“My point in tell you all this Dick, is only that ever since Jason’s come back we’ve all wanted him to be like he was before he died. But I don’t think he’s changed all that much. He’s still caring, and reckless when it suits him. He still does what he thinks is right. But because of us, he’s learned how to protect himself more. He’ll pull away and disappear before any of us can get close. However Tim managed to get to him, I’ll never know. As for Cassandra, she probably has more in common with him than any of us. But Jason is a stranger to us now and it’s not any single one of our faults, it’s _all_ our fault. We pushed him away and he’s doing the one thing he’s always had to do. _Survive_.”

Dick listened to Barbara’s story, taking in the new information and coming to the conclusion that he really didn’t feel any better about all this. But now he had to consider that everything he’d been thinking about over the past week and a half had been entirely one sided. He’d only thought of the good times, which really didn’t encompass everything that happened. He hadn’t been exactly nice to Jason in the beginning, and apparently neither had Barbara.

Dick leaned back in the chair and folded his hands in his lap. Barbara was watching him.

“By telling me this, it just makes me want to get to know him more. Barb, we’ve really messed up here. And I can’t just sit here and pretend that everything’s okay, because it’s not.”

“You realize that it won’t be easy.” She said.

“I don’t want it to be easy. It _shouldn’t_ be easy. I need to gain his trust back, because frankly I can’t blame him for not trusting me. This is something I need to do Babs, or I’ll never feel right about this.”

___________

“ _I swear to God that if I’m stuck in this cave one more day I’ll hang myself with the damn bed sheet_.”

“Wouldn’t that be counterproductive to the past two weeks you’ve spent recovering?” Tim said matter-of-factly.

“Y’know what Tim? _Shut up_.” Jason deadpanned.

Tim smirked.

It’s been another three days, putting him at two weeks in the cave. It was starting to feel suffocating, especially when it felt like Bruce was hovering. And it felt like his skin was always crawling, like he was being watched for everything he did. He hated it.

He’d been able to get up and walk around about a day ago, he was still a little shakey on his feet though. But now he was sitting at one of the tables inside the cave, dressed in a pair of dark sweatpants and grey hooded sweater. A chill was starting to set in his bones, and it was more than likely because of the damp conditions of the cave. Tim was beside him, with a couple textbooks open and a lap top as he worked on an assignment for one of his university classes.

“You could always go up and stay in the manor.” Tim offered.

Jason let out a puff of air. “If I’m forced to stay here any longer I’ll just poison myself again.”

“Well it’s not like you can just disappear and stay at a safe house. We know where all your safe houses are now.” Tim said with a shrug.

“ _Gee,_ thanks for reminding me Timmy. Roy’s going to be the one to pay for the new ones I’ll have to look for. But still, a safe house would be better than this museum.” Jason groaned as he laid his head on his arms on the table. “What are you doin’ anyways?”

“Accounting.”

“Bruce trying to get you to take over the company or something?”

“With two of us legally dead, Damian still being too young, and with Cassandra not interested in it. I guess one of us has to.” Tim explained. “And it’s good to have someone else who can manage the company other than Bruce, y’know for security reasons.”

Jason let out a puff of air that flipped one of Tim’s textbook pages. Earning him a raised eyebrow and a short glare from Tim before he turned back to his laptop.

“ _Nerd_.” Jason said with a smirk.

“ _Asshole_.” Tim shot back not bothering to look in Jason’s direction.

Jason chuckled and sat back in the chair. He took a moment to look around the cave. Things were quiet, aside from the thumps that Damian made as he practiced with his sword hitting the training dummy set up in the gym. Barbara was sat at the main computer terminal, with Dick at her side.

“Maybe if you came home and trained more you wouldn’t be getting your ass kicked by assassins.”

Jason rolled his eyes and turned to look at Stephanie who sat on the opposite side of the table.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Suck my clit Blondie.”

“Ooo, _scathing_. All I’m saying is that I have to deal with Cass being lonely because you’re not home, and maybe if you two actually trained together, the next time you go up against the League of assassins you won’t walk away half dead.” Stephanie reasoned.

“Okay _first_ ; if it wasn’t for Bruce, I’d have been fine. Second, it was more like a tie between Shiva and I, also who the hell can walk away from Shiva and say _that_. And third; Cass knows how to get in contact with me at any time.” Jason answered.

Cassandra nodded her agreement from her place beside Stephanie. Earning a roll of the eyes from the blonde.

“So how _do_ we get in contact with you?” Stephanie said, crossing her arms over her chest too.

“Oh y’know, voodoo and Ouija boards, summoning Trigon and sacrificing virgins to the mighty spaghetti monster.” He said with a devilish smirk that got a light chuckle out of Cassandra that she tried to hide by taking a sip of her tea.

“ _Unbelievable_.” Steph said and rolled her eyes.

Jason laughed, and absently started to rub the ribs on his right side. They were still sore, and bruised. It would be another four weeks before he could confidently say they were healed. And it would probably take about two weeks before the after effects of the poison finally wore off. He was still having trouble sleeping at night, and the nausea liked to come and go at random times. He hadn’t really experienced much more than that. And he was getting his strength back quickly, or at least quicker than Dr. Thompkins thought he should be. She’d basically cleared him, and just said that he needed rest. Although she did mention that she wanted him to stick around to make sure nothing went wrong and that he was healing fine.

He hadn’t spoken to Bruce yet, but speak of the devil and he shall appear. The elevator to the main floor of the cave opened and Bruce stepped out with Alfred just behind him. Alfred was carrying a tray with more tea, which he set down at the table that Jason, Tim, Steph and Cassandra sat at. Jason tried to ignore Bruce’s gaze as he walked passed him and towards Barbara and Dick. They were speaking but Jason turned his focus to Alfred.

“Feeling better Master Jason?” he asked.

“A lot better. Thanks Alfred.” he said, smiling up at the old butler.

Tim took another cup of tea, as did Stephanie. Dick came over from the computers to sit in the open seat to Jason’s right and he too took a cup of tea. Jason had noticed that if he woke up during the night there was always someone beside his bed. And it was usually either Cass, which didn’t surprise him, or Dick, which did surprise him. He wasn’t sure what to make of the closeness Dick had taken to him. Jason just tried to ignore him for now, and instead pulled one of Tim’s textbooks over to him and began to idly flip through the pages.

He lost track of the conversation around him, and aimlessly started to read about exponential functions, linear decay and something to do with calculus that he was pretty sure was an integral. He used to be really good at math when he was in school. Or at least after he’d gotten back into school when Bruce had taken him off the streets. He’d been behind several grades so he’d needed a lot of help from Alfred tutoring him, but he’d also really loved learning. Back then he thought he’d go to university, maybe for English because he could read for days.

At this point most of his skills were composed of the more lethal arts. Things like calculus and accounting just seemed so basic compared to piloting planes, mixing poisons, and cutting the wires to bombs. He flipped through a couple more pages before closing the book and pushing it back over to Tim. He let out a tired sigh. But he got the odd prickly feeling at the back of his neck that he usually got when he was being watched. He turned around just in time to see Bruce and Barbara turning away. It pissed him off. But he then turned back to the table.

Jason had to remind himself that this wasn’t out of the ordinary. He got along well with the majority of the family, but the problem has always been and probably always will be Bruce. Every time they managed to fix something in their relationship something always goes wrong again to make things worse. Jason had started to think that there wasn’t much he could do right anymore, because everything that happened was the result of some stupid choices he’d made. But it was still Bruce that held the whip. Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the thought- the memory.

Things started to quiet down a bit, and the Bats were getting ready to head out for patrol. But even when people left him alone for a few minutes, he was never _really_ alone. There was always Bruce watching, or someone within hearing distance. _That_ pissed him off too. It certainly wasn’t for his health that someone was always so vigilant over him, because he was fucking fine at this point- no, it was solely because they didn’t trust him. But Jason could also admit to himself that he didn’t trust the vast majority of them either. It’s not like Stephanie or Barbara would come up behind him and hit him with a sedative- but it was just the fact that he didn’t know them well enough, and that they were all too damn loyal to Bruce. Of course all of them were loyal to Bruce, but at least Tim and Cassandra understood where he was coming from in his issues with the damn Bat.

Cassandra had dressed into her uniform, the full black body suit and faceless mask made her an intimidating sight to behold; with the sharp edges to the bat ears, and the outlining of yellow drawing attention to the bat on her chest. But it made Jason smile to see how adorably expressive she was when she tilt her head to the side and motioned for him to give her his hand. She liked to hold his hand, it was sort of like their way at show each other they cared. It was a very personal thing to do; because it was different from a hug, as a hug was often brief and missing the closeness of seeing each other’s faces. But when they held hands it was face to face, and he could never hide anything from Cass.

She would be going out with Stephanie tonight to do some recon on gang movements in Gotham. Tim would be taking care of a minor investigation involving a drug shipment. While Damian and Bruce would be going out together, but they hadn’t bothered to mention what for. It was fascinating to see how well they all worked together, but it was also a little… saddening? Because he would never be able to do this again. He liked the family, he _liked_ spending time with Tim and Cass, but he didn’t feel right with the idea of doing anything for Bruce ever again.

He was left alone for a time and before he knew it, it was only Bruce, Dick, Barbara and himself in the cave. Bruce had sent Damian on ahead, obviously choosing now to speak to him. Jason just waited in his seat by the table, waiting and watching and not feeling too keen on having to talk to Bruce. He was starting to feel a little tired again, but he had a couple things to say to Bruce anyways, so he’d have to hold out for now.

Bruce spent a good twenty minutes doing seemingly nothing. He would walk between the armory and the computer terminal each time maybe with another piece of his suit, but he looked increasingly agitated at the same time. Jason wanted to laugh. But part of him was also preparing for their conversation sure to turn into an argument.

The silence was starting to hang thickly in the air and Jason couldn’t ignore it anymore. So he stood, and leaned against the table and he was the one to speak up first.

“Whatever you want to say spit it out before I decide I don’t care to listen.” He said flatly.

Bruce stopped in his pacing and zeroed in on Jason. His pale blue eyes focused and hard, but red rimmed and tired. Jason had the fleeting thought that Bruce really looked like he was getting older, he didn’t really know how he felt about that thought.

“I need information about your employer Tara Battleworth.”

“What, no, _‘I’m sorry_ ’ Old Man? In case you didn’t know, you _did_ break my ribs.” Jason crossed his arms over his chest defensively. “And what makes you think I’ll tell you _jackshit_ about Tara? I would’ve been fine if you hadn’t stepped in.”

“Whether or not you would have survived the poison is another debate to be had.” Bruce’s voice hardened.

“But you wouldn’t have known about that one either. _Would you_?” Jason shot back, and gained some confidence when he saw the way that Bruce stiffened.

“Tara Battleworth is a target for an international crime network. And subsequently, so are you. You’ve gotten yourself into another mess; you’ve jumped head first into the fight without thinking, without preparing and now you’ve stupidly put a target on your own head too.” Bruce ground out. “You are wanted dead, and there is a bounty that has been put on your head if you continue under Ms. Battleworth’s employment.”

“ _You_ don’t get to say shit about how I work.” Jason spat back. “And you also don’t have a right to act like just because I’m wanted dead, that I suddenly have to answer to you. I can take care of myself.”

“Clearly you cannot. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

“Oh just _fuck off_.” Jason exaggerates as he rolls his eyes. “You pretentious, sanctimonious shit-eating, douchebag. You have such a fucking crown on your head, _don’t you_? Kiss my ass. I’m not telling you shit. If you want information, fucking find it yourself.”

“I’m asking for your help because you have information that would be valuable in this investigation. It could save lives Jason.” Bruce said, switching tactics, but his voice remained just as hard.

“The work I do with Tara _is_ saving lives.” Jason shoots back at him.

Bruce fell silent for a moment, and he just schooled his breathing. Jason had the chance to glance to the side to see Dick looking like he wanted to step into the argument, and Barbara just trying to step as far away from it. Jason didn’t budge from his place by the table.

“I’m leaving. I’ll be gone by tomorrow.” He spoke, cutting through the tension and silence between them.

“Leslie has ordered that you are to remain in Gotham until she’s sure the poison has passed from your system. You will stay here.”

“I’m not staying in this damn house another night. If I’m forced to stay in this city I’ll move to one of my safe houses instead.” Jason reasoned.

“You shouldn’t be alone.” Bruce says.

Jason rolls his eyes again before focusing on Bruce once more. “Fine, call Tim tell him to pack his shit and get to my penthouse apartment.”

“Tim will be occupied for the next two weeks.” Barbara speaks up. “Between his work with the Titan’s, current investigations and school, he won’t be around much.”

“Fine then, Cass-.”

“Is on special assignment starting tomorrow.” Bruce said cutting him off.

“I’ll go stay with Jason.” Dick spoke up for the first time, the idiot had some kind of hopefully stupid expression on his face.

Jason wanted to groan, it was just like the Boy Scout to offer himself up. God, he didn’t want to deal with this. But he really had no way of justifying a reason for Dick not to stay with him other than ‘ _he’s fucking annoying so no thank you_ ’.

“It’s settled then. For the next two weeks, or until Leslie says you’re cleared, Dick will stay with you.” Bruce said.

Jason looked between Bruce and Dick, and then towards the ceiling of the cave. He couldn’t help but think that the next two weeks were going to be hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i really want there to be character development in this story. It's not going to be this cliche thing where they spend two weeks stuck together and suddenly they're fucking. it's going to take a bit more than two weeks in the story and more than just 2-3 chapters. In the next chapter there is going to be TONS of character development tho. Lots of arguments, and i've got this idea that totally broke my own heart a bit. So you guys got lots to look forward to. 
> 
> Anyways. Duela and Roy will for sure be in the next chapter. And more Lian too. Also i'm thinking i might pull Kori into this a little sooner than i was originally planning. We'll see.
> 
> PS, reviews/comments mean so much to me. They ligit motivate me to write faster.
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been thinking a lot about how i want this story to go. it's probably going to turn into a 200,000 epic. I've been setting up a lot in these little scenes that are going to come in handy later. I know it doesn't seem like much happens in this chapter, and in reality i wanted to write lots of arguments etc.. but i think i needed to set the stage first and then in the next chapter it will really get good.
> 
> I want to thank everyone for sticking around and reading. And i hope you enjoy the update.

Jason didn’t want to spend any more time than what was needed stuck in the cave. So he packed up his suit and gear into a small duffle bag that Alfred had provided him with and he went to sit in one of the cars until Dick was ready to leave. Jason wouldn’t be driving, he didn’t really argue the fact because he knew that he was still shaky and at the moment more than a little exhausted. It didn’t take long for Dick to arrive, loading his own suitcase into the trunk of the car and then opening the door and sitting down in the drivers’ seat.

“So where are we going?” Dick asked.

 _Arkham Asylum_. Jason almost said purely to see what kind of reaction he’d get out of Dick. But he thought better of it before speaking up.

“5th Estate penthouse.” He said, noticing that he sounded tired.

Dick nodded, probably remembering the address that Roy had given them. Jason wasn’t happy about that, but he understood why it had to be done. Roy did save his life by doing so after all. But now he’d need to spend the time to find new safe houses which already sounded like a drag.

They didn’t talk throughout the drive. Instead Dick turned on the radio and sometimes hummed along to a song that would come on. Jason just wrapped his arms around his chest, trying to quell the aches he felt and stare out the window at Gotham. They passed by small shops, and restaurants. In the nicer areas that they drove by there were couples walking together as they spent a night on the town. But Jason couldn’t stop himself from noticing the dark alleyways, the seedy looking goons that hid around street corners and the homeless who lived in their boxes.

After a while he had to turn away from it all, instead opting to close his eyes and try to think of other places that he’d rather be. A house with red bricks, a dark shingled roof, and a white porch came to mind. The green lawn in front littered with wildflowers and a large backyard. He was thinking of Roy’s home with Lian. He’d really rather be there right now.

They had to drive across the city to get to the apartment. It was the one he’d been squatting in for the few days before his job, it was also the furthest one from the manor and the nicest safe house he had in Gotham. It took about 30 minutes to reach the parking garage. Neither of them had spoken anything to each other.

Dick followed him through the parking garage and lobby and into the elevator. They rode it up to the top floor and exited. Jason led the way down the hallway and to his apartment door. He fished around in the duffle bag and into his jacket to find the key. He pushed it into the lock and was about to turn it before he looked to Dick.

“Look, neither of us wants this. So why don’t you go back to the manor. Just tell Bruce I threatened to shoot you or something.” Jason said tiredly.

Dick raised an eyebrow at him, but he pulled his suitcase to his side. “I offered to stay with you Jason, I wasn’t ordered to. I’m not leaving.”

“Fine, whatever.”

Jason wasn’t in the mood for arguing at the moment, as he was more concerned with crawling into bed. So he reluctantly opened the door and stepped inside letting Dick follow him and close the door behind them. He walked down the short hallway into the studio apartment. He flicked on a couple lights as he went to light the way, and he headed straight for the wall that separated the bedroom from the rest of the apartment. He dropped the duffle bag off to the side of the bed and laid down on the left side of the bed on top of the covers. He breathed in deeply and shut his eyes.

“This is nice.” Dick said, sounding impressed. “I had no idea you had such good taste.”

“I also have good aim. Now shut up.” He said, breathing out.

There was a shift in weight on the bed, and the bedside lamp was turned on. Annoyed, Jason twisted to look over his shoulder. Dick was sat on the opposite side of the bed, with the pillow propped up behind him as he leaned against the headboard. He had a book open on his thighs.

“Do you mind?” he asked.

“No, do you?” Dick replied, already getting comfortable.

“There is a couch.” Jason said pointedly.

“And there is a bed.”

Jason groaned, and rolled back over onto his side. This is exactly what he meant about Dick being annoying. He had absolutely no sense of space, and Jason is exactly the type of person that enjoys his personal space.

“You’re not very scary when you’re exhausted.” Dick chuckled. “Almost kind of pathetic really.”

“Fuck you.” He said, but it didn’t sound very convincing.

The light didn’t turn off, and there was no shifting on the bed. But a silence took over and Jason started to feel himself drifting into sleep.

“Goodnight Jason.”

“ _I said shut up._ ”

____________

A vast landscape of softly flowing rivers, cascading waterfalls, elegant floating islands, and puffy white clouds were all he could see for miles and miles. Jason stood at the peak of a cliff at sunset, watching what he could only assume to be a sun in the distance slowly falling as night and darkness took over the sky. This place, this other worldly and beautiful place was truly a wonder. He’d never even known that places like this existed in this universe, or dimension or wherever. It was just truly spectacular. But still he asked himself how a kid from the slums of Gotham had ever gotten the opportunity to see such a sight.

He was still angry. Jason could feel it boiling under his skin making him antsy, uncomfortable and irritable. He’d been welcomed into this place to be trained, and taught how to become an assassin because there was no place waiting for him in the world he’d left behind. He wasn’t Robin anymore, he wasn’t anybody except a dead boy who got a second chance at the world. Not even Talia knew what brought him back, but somehow he suspected that Ducra knew.

Ducra, the terribly old woman with an equally vicious bark to her bite. She never gave him a break. _Ever_. She liked to push him to his extremes, to utter exhaustion, and still in his sleep and dreams she would push him- train him. Of course he’d snapped at her a few times, but before when talking out of line had been looked down upon, she _encouraged_ it. She wanted him to learn he had a say in what happened to him, and if he didn’t talk back and fight for himself, then he would forever be stepped on, taken advantage of and pushed around.

She was forceful, annoying and tougher than anyone he’d ever met- even more so than Bruce. She’s lived for a millennia; through wars, cataclysms, and apocalypses. But for however hard on him she was, Ducra was also a confidant. He could talk to her without being judged, well maybe she’d judge him, but she’d only ever say the honest truth if he asked for advice. He valued her as a mentor and a friend.

“I’m leaving.” He said, staring out across the clouds and floating islands. “I need to go back to Gotham.”

Ducra stood beside him, hunched and smaller than Jason. Her wiry white hair pulled back into a loose bun, and stray hairs clipped to the side with a cat hair clip that Talia had brought her. Her hands were clasped together in front of her. She too faced the sunset.

“Revenge will not satisfy you.” She said, her voice sounded younger than she looked.

“Doesn’t matter. I need to kill the Joker, and I need to make Bruce suffer for what he’s done.”

“Do you plan to kill your old mentor as well?”

Jason fell silent for some time, instead taking the time to watch as some of the stars started to appear in the nights sky before the dying light of the sun disappeared.

“No.” He said.

He’s just finished his training today, and been presented before all his peers and fellow students as fully recognized warrior. Ducra said he was the first human to ever complete her training. But she’d also said that he was the most stubborn and stupid human she’d ever met. Apparently not even Talia had finished her training here.

“You are my greatest student Pup. But you are also _stupid_.” She said, shaking her head a little exasperated.

“The only way for you to learn is if you make your own choices, your own mistakes and take risks that you think are necessary. But I … I believe there will come a day that you will shine bright like the stars in darkness. There will come a day when your heart will truly shine. You will face tragedies and hardship, but you will survive because you are stubborn. It won’t all be darkness Pup. There will be people who will love you. You will find happiness and peace. _But only if you learn to let go_.”

“That actually sounded really nice Old Lady.” Jason said smirking a little.

Ducra laughed. And Jason smiled, because he’d finally made her laugh.

___________

 

 _Blood._ There was so much _blood_. It painted the floor a deep red, and as it dried it flaked away leaving a rusted stain on the concrete. The room reeked of it, thick and heavy, and Jason could swear he could taste the coppery substance on his tongue, but he wasn’t sure if maybe it was actually his own blood he was tasting. He wasn’t even sure how much of the blood on the floor was his own.

He could feel the stretch of his muscles in his arms as he was strung up tightly by a chain. His head hung forward as he tried to clear his muddled mind. _Where was he? How did he get here? Why was this happening?_

Then he remembered. The city was in chaos; Barbara had fallen, Tim was missing, and everyone else was fighting to protect this city, and they were fighting to protect themselves. And in the middle of all the chaos he heard the radio message that the Joker had escaped from Arkham Asylum. Someone had to deal with the clown or things would only get worse. Bruce was nowhere to be seen, and he wouldn’t answer his coms. So Jason made his decision and went after him. _Alone_.

Now he thought to himself that he really fucked up and shouldn’t have followed the trail of bodies to a warehouse on the outskirts of Gotham. He shouldn’t have followed the trail of blood on the concrete floor of the warehouse, pulling deeper and deeper into the building. And he shouldn’t have expected he could go in alone. He’d told himself that he could do this, he could _finally_ kill the Joker and Bruce wouldn’t be there to stop him. But he messed up. He was blindsided, hit so hard that it had knocked him clean out.

A wicked laughter filled the room, menacing, cackling and terrifying. Jason twisted trying to look behind him. The Joker, dressed in his orange Arkham fatigues was walking towards him. The sleeves were spattered with dried blood that had turned an ugly brown color and the pants matched with the same pattern. A wide red grin was spread over his face. Jason felt his heart stop beating in his chest when he watched the Joker pull a crowbar out from behind his back.

“Is it just me or have I killed you before?” the Joker asked, waited a moment for Jason to answer, and then erupted into a fit of laughter, throwing his head back dramatically.

“Really kid, you’re such a pain in the ass.” The Joker said, and used the crowbar to raise Jason’s jaw uncomfortably high.

“You cheated me out of my punchline!” the Joker barked out harshly, before his voice went oddly childish and he whined. “I want my punchline!”

“ _Fuck off_.” Jason said, his voice came out a little raspy, and he noticed his mouth was very dry.

“Still no manners I see.” The Joker said, and then swung the crowbar hitting Jason in the jaw.

Jason knew he could swing harder. But he tried to school himself to calm down a bit. His legs were free that meant he could move. But he was also strung up onto the very balls of his feet so his movement was at least a little strained. He also noticed that he was shirtless, only his pants and boots were still on him. He couldn’t be sure if he still had any gear in any of the compartments of his pants or hidden places in his boots, but he hoped that some of it had slipped through the Joker’s search.

“You’re such an ungrateful _brat_. But I guess the Bat is too! Isn’t he? I show him that having a sidekick is ruining him, so I kill it to make sure his potential isn’t hindered. And what happens? He finds a replacement.”

The Joker giggled girlishly.

“Oh c’mon kid! That’s funny. _Really_ it is!” he giggled again.

“Oh, what to do, what to do.” The Joker pondered, stepping away and pacing back and forth as he comically tapped the side of his head. “This can’t be like last time. It would feel a little cheesy and overdone don’t you think? I’ve blown up lots of warehouses in my day, killed lots of people. Just so many possibilities- but _what to do_?.... AH!”

The Joker nearly jumped in glee. “I’ve got an idea. _Oh_ and it’s a good one too! You’re gonna hate it. But it might just be the _best joke yet_!”

Then the Joker looked down his body, inspecting the orange and seemingly ignoring the blood spatters. “Of course I’ll need to change. I just tend to think orange is not my color. What should I wear? _Wait_ , never mind. You’re the one with that leather and biker fetish. Hey dead bird, have you ever seen an orange bat? Wouldn’t that just be _hilarious_?”

The Joker erupted into giggles again before wiping away a non-existent tear. “Oh c’mon kid! You’re giving me nothing to work with! Tell me you’re at least a little curious, it must just be _killing_ you.”

Jason bit the inside of his cheek, reminding himself not to panic. He could still get out of this.

“C’mon, don’t you want to know?” the Joker asked, leaning in closely towards Jason. He was so close Jason could feel his rank breathe on his face, but he refused to pull away. “It truly is dastardly, so unbelievably vile and grotesque, just _beautifully_ so!”

Jason remained silent.

The Joker’s voice deepened and he growled. “ _The Bat’s going to do it._ He’s going to _kill you._ And he’s going to _choose_ to _._ ”

________

_“Jason!”_

Jason jerked awake, his heart pounding in his chest. He felt a hand land on his shoulder, and in a panic he grabbed it with his own and wrenching it to the side as he sat up. He automatically had it twisted into his grasp so that all he had to do was push and he’d break the person’s wrist.

“ _Ah!_ ” the person gasped. “Jason! Jason, stop! It’s okay. It’s just me. It’s _Dick_.”

Jason’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and yes, it was Dick. He was sitting on his knees on the bed, dressed in a large t-shirt and boxers. And Jason had his wrist twisted firmly into an uncomfortable position. All he had to do was push and he’d break Dick’s wrist. Dick’s expression was obviously pained.

He let go instantly.

“ _I-I’m sorry_.” Was all he could get out before he was running for the bathroom, his stomach flipping.

He threw himself onto the floor and heaved into the toilet, emptying his stomach of what little fluids and foods he’d managed to eat in the past couple days.

“Jason, are you okay? What’s happening?” Dick called from somewhere.

Jason reached for the door slamming it shut and locking it. He heaved again. The panic was spiking within him. And he could hear Dick knocking on the door, saying something. He couldn’t hear anything more than the blood in his ears as his heart beat so rapidly in his chest that he could feel it pounding against his ribs.

When his stomach finally settled, he sat back against the wall. He pulled his knees up to his chest and itched at his face. He noticed his cheeks were wet. _Was he crying?_ He sat in silence for a few moments, but still the panic wasn’t leaving him. It was crushing him, he felt small and vulnerable. He felt like he was going to die.

He felt a weight in his pant pocket, so he pat himself down to find his cell phone. He dialed Roy’s number with trembling fingers.

“Hello?” Roy asked, his voice raspy as though he’d been woken up.

“Roy.” Jason said, his voice sounded wrecked.

“God, Jay, what is it? Are you okay? What’s happened?” Roy said, sounding instantly awake and concerned.

“I-I just…. I need to hear your voice. Just talk. Talk about anything.” He took in a shaky breath. “ _Please?_ ”

“Okay. Um… Okay.” Roy struggled for a moment to come up with anything, but then he began.

“A couple days ago, I picked Lian up from school. She’s been doing very well by the way. Her teachers say that she’s one of the best readers in her class. I’m really proud of her, and I’m sure you are too.” Roy said, his voice sounding bright.

“But anyways. She comes out with a big smile, and she hands me a math test that she did. The kid got 100% Jaybird, and she says she was the only one in the class to get perfect. She’s just such a smart kid. So I decided to take her to the mall, y’know, to spoil her. Cause my daughter, your god daughter, deserves the world.”

“We went into one of those dollar stores, and she takes off going straight the toys section. I’m expecting her to come back with a princess toy or maybe a hotwheels car. But get this Jay, she comes running back with one of those toy bow-and-arrow sets. I’m tellin’ you, being an archer is genetic. My baby girl is going to be an archer just like me. I can see it now, she’s going to grow up and she’s going to be a hero. I wonder if she’ll take the name Speedy? Anyways, I totally bought it for her. And then took her out for ice cream. I’ve also been dubbed the best dad in the world by a six year old.”

Jason found himself smiling. The panic had passed. His heartbeat returned back to his regular rhythm and the tears had dried on his cheeks. He felt like he could breathe again.

“Jay… Talk to me. Tell me what happened?”

“It’s this city.” He said, his voice barely a whisper. “It’s like it’s making me sick. I can’t sleep here. I don’t feel safe. Roy, I hate it here.”

He took a couple shaky breaths before continuing.

“It was a nightmare. From two years ago. It was with … the Joker. He was talking, telling me about his plans. Saying that he’d get Bruce to willingly kill me. But then I woke up, and Dick had his hand on my shoulder. But I didn’t know it was him and I almost broke his wrist. I panicked and so I ran. I’m in my apartment bathroom right now. Dick probably thinks I’m nuts. Maybe he’s calling Bruce right now.”

“Roy, I just can’t- I can’t do this. I shouldn’t have come back.” Jason’s voice shook.

“Jason, listen to me.” Roy said firmly. “Jaybird, you’re okay. You’re safe. If Dick is there with you then there’s no way the Joker is going to get to you. Everything’s fine. We both know Dick, so we both know that he’s not going to call Bruce unless he thinks he can’t handle the situation. And so help me God, if I have to fly down to that city to yell at a Bat _I will_. The great Batman doesn’t scare me, and neither does Dick. Do you want me to come get you? Do you want to come home?”

“Home?” Jason asked, his voice sounding oddly small.

“Back home with me and Lian. My home is your home. Do you want me to come get you? I can be in Gotham by tomorrow.” Roy said.

“Doctor Thompkins wants me to stay in Gotham. She says she wants to make sure the poison doesn’t stick around.” He answers.

“How long does she want you to stay?”

“Two weeks.”

“Do you still want me to come to Gotham? I can stay with you instead.” Roy offered.

“No… no that’s okay. You have Lian to take care of. I’ll be fine.” He said, but the last part didn’t sound very convincing.

Roy breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. “Okay. That’s okay. It’ll go by fast. We can talk every day for however long you want, and you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Thanks Roy. Thank you so much.” Jason said, feeling tears come to his eyes again but for an entirely different reason. _What had he ever done in his life to have a friend like Roy?_

“Jay, I’d do anything for you. You’re my best friend, my brother. And I love you. Don’t ever think for a second that I wouldn’t be there for you. And when this is over, come back home. Okay?” Roy said his voice warm.

“Yeah. Yeah, o-okay.” Jason said, the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. “I’ll come home.”

__________

“What are we doing here Father?”

Bruce was dressed in his Batman uniform and he was currently hunched forward a bit as he balanced on the ledge of a skyscraper just across from his target. Black Mask was in his office holding a conference with some of his underlings, a number of lieutenants were standing in a line in front of his massive dark Cherrywood desk. Body guards hung around the sides of the expansive room, with two at the doors, three or four along the sides and two on either side of the large window. His female assistant stood dutifully beside him, clipboard in hand.

He and Damian had been sitting up on the rooftop of their respective skyscraper for nearly two hours. Damian had been complacent for some time, but then he began to pace back and forth, and then took to grinding one of his batarangs on the concrete to curb his excess energy. He was getting antsy.

“We need to speak to Black Mask.” He said.

He had a well-hidden transmitter inside Black Masks office. It allowed him to listen in on their conversations. So far tonight it had gone from Black Mask yelling at the poor job his lieutenants were doing, threatening to kill a few of them, he’d even punched out one that had apparently looked at him wrong, but eventually things got down to business. He was planning a massive shipment of arms that would be arriving by the end of the week. Apparently it was imperative that they not lose these firearms, he stressed the fact that these were absolutely needed. But Black Mask didn’t say flat out _why_ they were so necessary.

“ _Why?_ ” Damian asked, coming up to stand beside him and peer down towards Black Masks office.

“I will brief you more on it later. But the short story is that Ashford Smore was associated with an international crime organization. This organization is already well established in Europe, and it’s been spreading fast. Interestingly, the Gotham underground was trying to push Smore out.”

“But that makes sense that they’d do so. Smore was competition.” Damian crossed his arms over his chest critically.

“Perhaps. Or there’s something else we’re missing. We need to find out if Black Mask knows anything.” He explained.

Silence passed as they watched from their perch. Bruce still listened through his cowls earpiece, noting to himself if anything came up of importance.

“Why isn’t Grayson out here? He would be good as back up.” Damian asked.

“Dick is with Jason. They’ve moved to one of Jason’s safe houses.” Bruce said, noticing the odd tone his voice took.

“Why is he with _Todd_?”

“ _Because someone has to be_.” The tone of his voice clearly saying that they were done talking about this.

Damian didn’t look like he was going to accept that answer, but from the tone in Bruce’s voice Damian knew to leave the conversation be for now. They had a job to do. And it was finally time that they started.

Black Mask’s underlings began to turn away from his desk to take their leave. Some of the body guards left the room and even his assistant took her exit. Now was their time.

Bruce stood to his full height on the ledge and stared across the distance. Black Mask’s building was shorter than the one he was currently stood on. So they could glide easily across and onto the roof.

“Now.” He said, and took the dive.

The wind whipped past him for a moment before he opened his cape and activated an electric current through the fabric to harden the fabric and allow him to glide through the air. Damian was beside him when he landed on the roof. He headed for an export of a vent and pulled the cover off to be set aside. He then crawled into it. Using the tech in his cowl, Bruce was able to navigate the maze of vents, taking lefts and rights, and descending until they were in the vents just above Black Mask’s office.

He took a moment to pause and inspect the room through the grate. Damian was just beside him, kneeling and ready for his orders. Bruce looked through the grate, Black mask stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he gazed through the massive glass window that opened up the entire city to his view. Bruce took a moment to adjust the sensors in his cowl to expand the range and determine if anyone else would be entering the room, he didn’t find anyone. So he set to work with unscrewing the vent, setting it aside and then signalling for Damian to stay in the vents. To which Damian scowled but nodded in affirmation.

Bruce dropped down silently to land on his feet. Black Mask still faced the majority of the city.

“Black Mask.” Bruce said to gain his attention.

The crime lord didn’t even seem surprised. He just turned around, rolled his eyes and then took his seat again at his very large desk.

“Batman, what a displeasure. Can’t say I wasn’t expecting you to show up sooner or later. What’sit this time? Gonna try to throw me back into Blackgate?” Black Mask sneered. “But make it quick before I have you removed from

Bruce walked closer towards the desk and pulled out a picture from his utility belt. He slapped the paper down on the table. Black Mask glanced down at it, picked it up then threw it back towards Batman with a look of disgust.

“I didn’t kill Smore.” Black Mask said firmly.

“But you don’t want the credit anyways?” Batman questioned. “What was he to you but an inconvenience?”

“I don’t need the credit, he was dead either way. It was only a matter of time, either some gang from Gotham kills him or his own people would. He was a waste of time, space and resources. And a damn annoyance.”

Bruce considered this new information. It would have been so much easier if Jason would’ve just shared his knowledge and contacts. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here right now talking to Black Mask.

“Why would his own people kill him?” he asked.

Black Mask barked out a laugh, “You’re tellin’ me that the great Batman hasn’t heard of them? They’re only the largest worldwide crime organization. They’ve been active for _years_ Bat-freak. _Ha!_ This is just too precious.”

“If they’re so worldwide, why haven’t they infected Gotham?” he asked skeptically.

“I know the difference between crime and terrorism and I won’t have these _terrorists_ in _my_ city.” Black Mask explained.

To say the least Bruce hadn’t been expecting that as an answer. And it made him try to think of everything he currently knew from another angle. However, it interested him to know that there could be an organization that could even turn Black Mask off. He needed to know more.

“My interests lie in Gotham’s safety. If you have any information you can share it would be useful in the investigation.” He said, rather than asked.

Black Mask sat back in his big leather chair and laced his fingers together as he gazed at Batman skeptically. His eyes narrowed. He looked on for a couple minutes of silence, and Bruce just waited for the answer. He wasn’t about to leave otherwise.

“ _Fine_.” Black Mask ground out. “But you’ll leave my operations be.”

“No promises.” Batman said flatly.

“I know you know that I’m bringing in a weapons shipment.” Black Mask stated, not looking for a reaction from Batman. “The guns I’m bringing in are to outfit my people for when the Nine come back. They’re pushing me and I won’t tolerate it. They step in this city and they get shot.”

“The _Nine_?” Bruce questioned.

“These people have no name, so everyone just calls them that because of their symbol.” Black Mask explained.

“Symbol.” Batman said, again not a question.

“Jesus Christ Bats, do I have to do everything for you? _Detective my ass_.” Black Mask grumbled, but pulled a paper out from his desk and a pen.

Bruce watched as Black Mask drew the symbol and then passed it over to him. It was a ring of rings to say the lease, nine of them. With eight interconnected on the outside, and the ninth in the center of the ring connecting all of them. He studied it for a moment, his mind already trying to decipher what it could possible mean.

“Have you been approached by this organization?” he asked, and folded the drawing to be put into one of his utility belt compartments.

“About five months ago a man with a dragon tattoo curled around his neck showed up here. Asking me to join their organization as a lieutenant or something. Which is when I told them to shove the offer up their asses. _Black Mask_ is second to _no one_. They left with a warning that I would join or they would take over Gotham by force. Nearly a week later this woman with black hair and blue eyes, the bitch wore this white suit and made it sound like she was some big deal. She starts asking questions and explains the situation a bit more clearly. And like I said. I will not have _terrorists_ in my city.”

“So you are prepared to fight to protect Gotham?” Bruce asked, thinking he was perhaps pushing a little too far.

“Damn strait. I’ve built my empire and I won’t roll over for no one. Not even you Bat-freak.” Black Mask said, glaring menacingly at Batman. “ _Now get out._ ”

______________

“So what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I dunno Roy, maybe I’ll walk around naked and pretend that Dick isn’t even in the apartment. I’m that’ll scare him off for sure.” Jason smirked as he held the phone to his ear.

After he’d calmed down in the bathroom, he’d quietly sneaked through the apartment to go out and stand on the outside veranda. Where he’s been on the phone with Roy since about three AM until now at nine AM. They’ve just been talking, a lot of the conversation was one sided though. Jason just liked to listen to Roy talk.

Roy barked a laugh in the background at Jason’s suggestion. “Dude that might backfire. You’re more than gorgeous Jay.”

Jason shook his head and his face fell neutral. He didn’t always believe it when Roy would say things like that. He knew that he wasn’t bad to look at, but he also knew that he had more scars than most. They were off putting for a lot of people, and he preferred not to show them if he had the choice to. He felt an itch crawl over his back, and he shifted uncomfortably.

“Well either way, I think I’ll need to check on the Dick-muncher. I probably did a number on his wrist.”

“Eh, whatever.” Roy sighed, but then spoke up again with an accusing tone. “And give Duela a call dammit! I can’t even begin to imagine the lecture she’s got prepared for you. The longer you take in calling her the worse it’s gonna get. And dude, I don’t have your back on this one.”

“Every time I’ve woken up it’s been the middle of the night. I haven’t had a chance to call her because the nurses won’t take phone calls that late.”

“Excuses. D won’t listen to any of it.”

Jason groaned.

Roy laughed.

_____________

Dick had settled himself on one of the sofas in the living room space of the studio apartment. After what had happened so early in the morning Dick hadn’t been able to sleep. Jason had looked so terrified. Dick hadn’t known what to do because he hadn’t expected it at all. He’d only really settled into bed when he suddenly realized that Jason wasn’t breathing normally, almost like he was holding his breath in his sleep. And then there was a quiet whimper as he attempted to curl in on himself. It hurt Dick to hear something so raw, so he’d reached out hoping to offer some kind of support and maybe wake Jason from his nightmare.

Instead Jason had reacted and Dick’s wrist had been twisted so suddenly that the burst of pain up his arm had taken his breath away. He’d been left stunned at the encounter when Jason had bolted to the bathroom. After several tries to get him to open up and being denied, Dick had gone to sit on one of the couches. He’d grabbed one of the big blankets and wrapped himself up as he waited.

About an hour later Jason had walked out with a phone pressed to his ear to go to the veranda. Dick didn’t say anything, instead he just watched Jason through the sliding glass door. At some point Dick must’ve dozed off, because when he woke again it was daytime.

The door slid open and closed behind Jason as he entered the apartment. He glanced briefly at Dick and then headed towards another part of the apartment behind where Dick sat on the couch. There was the sounds of things being moved around and a couple minutes later Jason had returned with a first aid kit beside him. He sat on the coffee table beside the couch Dick was curled up on.

Dick sat up, and Jason held out his hand. Dick knew what Jason wanted so he extended his left hand and still aching wrist. Jason gently took it and began to wrap it in a tensor. Something in Dick thought that he didn’t think he’d ever felt someone handle him with such care. When he was finished Dick inspected it and then wrapped himself in the blanket again.

“I’m sorry.” He said again, his voice sounding neutral. “You should return to the manor.”

Dick shook his head. “No. I’m staying here.”

“Why?”

Dick shrugged, “I’ve already decided.”

A couple minutes of silence passed between them as Jason looked at him skeptically. Then sighed and began putting away the excess supplies back into the first aid kit.

“They were nightmares, right?” Dick asked, feeling like he needed to say something.

Jason just glanced at him, but didn’t say anything.

“I get them too. If you ever want to talk, you should know I’m here. I am your brother.” Dick said hopefully.

“You’re not my brother.” Jason said, his voice void of emotion.

Dick bit the inside of his cheek, and he tried to quell some of the hurt he felt at hearing Jason say that. Lord know that he never acted like a brother to Jason before. Dick really wanted to find a way for Jason to trust him again. And if he had to do that as someone Jason didn’t think of as a brother, then fine. He could do that.

“Then I’m your friend, and you can talk to me.” Dick said, adjusting his statement.

“You’re not my friend either.”

“Then what am I to you?”

"A person that I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, the next chapter is what you've all been waiting for. It'll probably take about a week to two weeks to get out. As i am in the middle of exams. I'm also thinking about changing the title of this story. I don't know yet, so i'll be thinking about it for a while. 
> 
> And yes, holy fuck Duela WILL be in the next chapter. I keep saying this, but she sure as fuck is going to be in the next one. 
> 
> P.S. What the fuck DC. Where the hell did they get the idea to put fucking Bizarro on the new outlaws team? Like i'm okay with Artemis, because the outlaws will always need a badass female, but what the fuck with Bizarro. And i'm going to miss Roy and Jason together SOOO much. I'm suddenly very skeptical of this rebirth thing... I'll read a bunch of the storylines of course, but i need to be convinced that another reboot was a good idea now tbh.
> 
> I also haven't seen BvS yet. But i'm still extremely excited to see it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! Reviews help feed my motivation to write faster :p
> 
> Also, i'm aiming for 10 pages a chapter. Chapter 2 is only about 1/4th done.


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